Assessment and Awareness of Health Risks Posed by Mercury in Artisanal Gold Mining in the Ashanti Region of Ghana

The extent of mercury contamination in soils and sediments of an artisanal gold mining community (Mpatasie) was found and the inhabitants' awareness of the risks posed by mercury was determined using a structured questionnaire. The mean concentration of mercury in soil from the community and mining fields was 0.26 mg/kg and 6.80 mg/kg in hotspots while the concentrations in the sediments were up to 0.57 mg/kg. The soils and sediments are moderate to highly contaminated with mercury and the inhabitants are at risk of the deleterious effects of mercury. The majority of the miners (75%) had some form of formal education which resulted in the miners exhibiting a relatively high awareness of the environmental risk of mining; water pollution (92%) and land degradation (88%) and open pits serving as mosquito breeding places (83%). However, miners were less aware of the toxicity and health effects of mercury used in amalgamation as 80% indicated that mercury was not harmful and were not aware of the mercury uptake in the food chain and its accumulative effects on organisms higher up on the food chain. The study recommends the introduction of techniques that eliminate mercury entirely from artisanal and small gold mining in Ghana as well as educating the miners and creating awareness of the risk of mercury.