Mercury mining

Ganguli PM, Mason RP, Abu-Saba KE, Anderson RS, Flegal AR. 2000. Mercury speciation in drainage from the New Idria mercury mine, California. Environ Sci Technol 34 4773 779. 

Gray JE, Theodorakos PM, Bailey EA, Turner RR. 2000. Distribution, speciation, and transport of mercury in stream-sediment, stream-water, and fish collected near abandoned mercury mines in southwestern Alaska, USA. Sci Total Environ 260 21-33. 

In comparison, higher THg levels (up to 9 pg/g dw) have been reported in the Almaden mercury mining district (Ciudad Real, Spain) [51], which can be regarded as the largest geochemical anomaly of mercury on Earth. 

Frogs and toads Yugoslavia liver near mercury mines ... 

Clear Lake, site of abandoned mercury mine ... 

Clear Lake, California 1993 distance from abandoned mercury mine 8 km vs. 23 km ... 

There is one further potential source of mercury emissions which, in fact, totally overshadows all discussion of emissions, discharges and losses but which, until recently, was not on the regulatory radar screen. There are about 12 000 tonnes of pure mercury contained in operating cellrooms in Western Europe. What happens to this mercury when the cellrooms close After all, it represents some 1500 years of emissions at present rates from operating cellrooms, and it also represents some 15 years or more of global mercury production at present rates. Clearly the resolution of this issue is of importance not only for the environment but also for the mercury mining industry. 

Mercury is the 68th most abundant element. Although it can occur in its natural state, it is more commonly found as a sulfide of mercury. Its chief ore is cinnabar (HgS), which sometimes is called vermihon due to its red color. Historically, cinnabar was used as a red pigment. Today it is mined in Italy, Spain, and California. The best-known mercury mine is located at Almaden, Spain. It has been in continuous operation since 400 bce. 

Ancient Worldwide Mercury Mine workers poisoned 1930s hat industry (the Mad Hatters) 1950s Japan, mercury in fish 1970s mercury in seed grain acceptance of mercury as a developmental neurotoxicant released from coal-fired electrical plants ongoing contamination of fish... 

J. M. Hoppensack stated in 1795 that the mercury mines of Almaden had been worked for at least 2287 years and that cinnabar from them was sent to ancient Rome in the form of powder or sand (58). A. de Galvez-Canero believed that the Spanish mercury mines have been worked since the third or fourth century B.C. (28). In the Memoires of the Acaddmie des Sciences of Paris for 1719, Antoine Jussieu published a first-hand description of the great mine and smelters at Almaden, Spain, which he had visited two years previously (233). He was surprised to find that the crops, trees, and inhabitants were not injured by the fumes, and that springs near the mine yielded good potable water. The slaves who worked and ate in the mine however suffered severely from mercury poisoning (231). 

In his Natural and Moral History of the Indies, Father Jose de Acosta said that the Incas labored long in the Peruvian mercury mines without knowing what quicksilver was, seeking only cinnabar, or vermilion, to use as war paint (59). The Spaniards discovered the mercury mines of Huancavelica in 1566-67. 

Polluted mercury mining area Liver Kidney Lung Muscle... 

Spain La Pena-El Terronal mercury mining 6.0-7287 Loredo et al. (1999)... 

Loredo, J., Ordo nez, A., Gallego, J.R. et al. (1999) Geochemical characterisation of mercury mining spoil heaps in the area of Mieres (Asturias, northern Spain). Journal of Geochemical Exploration, 67(1-3), 377-90. 

Elemental mercury, which is a liquid, is found in the free state in rocks, for example the mercury mines in Slovenia and Spain. It was known as quicksilver and its Latin name, hydragyrum (from which its chemical symbol, Hg, is derived), means liquid silver. It is also found combined with sulphur in brightly coloured cinnabar, and with oxygen. 

Rytuba J. J. (2000) Mercury mine drainage and processes that control its environmental impact. Sci. Tot. Environ. 260, 57-71. 

Occupational exposure to inorganic mercury is quite common, and occurs in the dental and chloralkali industries, as well as in thermometer factories, and in mercury mines. Approximately 70,000 workers in the United States are regularly exposed to mercury [16]. Measurements of mercury in blood and urine are useful in quantifying the magnitude of exposure (see section about biological monitoring below). In most instances there is a linear relationship between ambient air and urine concentration of mercury, where the urine... 

Ambient mercury vapor concentrations of 100 pg/ m or higher have been measured during chloralkah production and mercury mining [18]. Adverse health effects were common sequelae from such exposures. During recent years, most countries have reduced mercury s occupational threshold limit value to 50... 

Many reports on mercury told of its poisonous effects. Slaves who worked in Roman mercury mines, for example, often died of exposure to mercury. Strangely enough, trees and plants around these mines were not affected. Mercury was sometimes very dangerous and sometimes quite safe. People even drank from streams that ran through mercury mines. Scientists now know that mercury s effects depend on the form in which it occurs. 

The primary routes of entry are ocular and dermal contact, inhalation, and ingestion. Calomel is found in environmental and occupational settings, such as in mercury mining operations, battery plants, paints and dyes, photography, perfumes and cosmetics, and chemical laboratories. It is poisonous by ingestion through food and intraperitoneal routes. Calomel is moderately toxic by skin contact. When heated to decompose, it emits very toxic fumes of Cl and Hg. 

Occupational exposure to inorganic mercury has been investigated in chloralkali plants, mercury mines, thermometer factories, refineries, and in dental clinics. High mercury levels have been reported for all these occupational exposure situations, although levels vary according to work environment conditions. 

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