Alluvial Gold Mining Sites as Exposure Pathways for Methyl Mercury Toxicity in Children: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Extensive studies have showed that alluvial gold mining is a predisposing factor for mercury toxicity through occupational exposure. In our systematic review of related literature, we aim to determine if children of alluvial gold miners were at risk of exposure to methyl mercury toxicity through dietary exposure. This was achieved through applying Cochrane PICO methodology for the research question. We selected only the most relevant articles from the thousands of articles that were generated by the Divine Word University (DWU) electronic data base system for our review. Further screening questions were applied based on the CASP method which filtered remaining 105 to only 9 papers for the review. The results from the nine (N = 9) studies analysed showed convincing results of the association between consumption of fish contaminated with methyl mercury and poor growth and development in children whose parents lived near mining sites. We conclude that since mercury is the predominant element used in the extraction of gold in alluvial mining, it is an exposure pathway for methyl mercury toxicity for children through dietary exposure.