Philip L. Hageman

Linking geological and health sciences to assess childhood lead poisoning from artisanal gold mining in Nigeria.

Background: In 2010, Médecins Sans Frontières discovered a lead poisoning outbreak linked to artisanal gold processing in northwestern Nigeria. The outbreak has killed approximately 400 young children and affected thousands more. Objectives: Our aim was to undertake an interdisciplinary geological- and health-science assessment to clarify lead sources and exposure pathways, identify additional toxicants of concern and populations at risk, and examine potential for similar lead poisoning globally. Methods: We applied diverse analytical methods to ore samples, soil and sweep samples from villages and family compounds, and plant foodstuff samples. Results: Natural weathering of lead-rich gold ores before mining formed abundant, highly gastric-bioaccessible lead carbonates. The same fingerprint of lead minerals found in all sample types confirms that ore processing caused extreme contamination, with up to 185,000 ppm lead in soils/sweep samples and up to 145 ppm lead in plant foodstuffs. Incidental ingestion of soils via hand-to-mouth transmission and of dusts cleared from the respiratory tract is the dominant exposure pathway. Consumption of water and foodstuffs contaminated by the processing is likely lesser, but these are still significant exposure pathways. Although young children suffered the most immediate and severe consequences, results indicate that older children, adult workers, pregnant women, and breastfed infants are also at risk for lead poisoning. Mercury, arsenic, manganese, antimony, and crystalline silica exposures pose additional health threats. Conclusions: Results inform ongoing efforts in Nigeria to assess lead contamination and poisoning, treat victims, mitigate exposures, and remediate contamination. Ore deposit geology, pre-mining weathering, and burgeoning artisanal mining may combine to cause similar lead poisoning disasters elsewhere globally.

Exposure of insects and insectivorous birds to metals and other elements from abandoned mine tailings in three Summit County drainages, Colorado

Concentrations of 31 metals, metalloids, and other elements were measured in insects and insectivorous bird tissues from three drainages with different geochemistry and mining histories in Summit Co., Colorado, in 2003, 2004, and 2005. In insect samples, all 25 elements that were analyzed in all years increased in both Snake and Deer Creeks in the mining impacted areas compared to areas above and below the mining impacted areas. This distribution of elements was predicted from known or expected sediment contamination resulting from abandoned mine tailings in those drainages. Element concentrations in avian liver tissues were in concordance with levels in insects, that is with concentrations higher in mid-drainage areas where mine tailings were present compared to both upstream and downstream locations; these differences were not always statistically different, however. The lack of statistically significant differences in liver tissues, except for a few elements, was due to relatively small sample sizes and because many of these elements are essential and therefore well regulated by the bird’s homeostatic processes. Most elements were at background concentrations in avian liver tissue except for Pb which was elevated at mid-drainage sites to levels where δ-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase activity was inhibited at other mining sites in Colorado. Lead exposure, however, was not at toxic levels. Fecal samples were not a good indication of what elements birds ingested and were potentially exposed to.

Characterization of pyroclastic deposits and pre-eruptive soils following the 2008 eruption of Kasatochi Island Volcano, Alaska.

Abstract The 7–8 August 2008 eruption of Kasatochi Island volcano blanketed the island in newly generated pyroclastic deposits and deposited ash into the ocean and onto nearby islands. Concentrations of water soluble Fe, Cu, and Zn determined from a 1:20 deionized water leachate of the ash were sufficient to provide short-term fertilization of the surface ocean. The 2008 pyroclastic deposits were thicker in concavities at bases of steeper slopes and thinner on steep slopes and ridge crests. By summer 2009, secondary erosion had exposed the pre-eruption soils along gulley walls and in gully bottoms on the southern and eastern slopes, respectively. Topographic and microtopographic position altered the depositional patterns of the pyroclastic flows and resulted in pre-eruption soils being buried by as little as 1 m of ash. The different erosion patterns gave rise to three surfaces on which future ecosystems will likely develop: largely pre-eruptive soils; fresh pyroclastic deposits influenced by shallowly buried, pre-eruptive soil; and thick (>1 m) pyroclastic deposits. As expected, the chemical composition differed between the pyroclastic deposits and the pre-eruptive soils. Pre-eruptive soils hold stocks of C and N important for establishing biota that are lacking in the fresh pyroclastic deposits. The pyroclastic deposits are a source for P and K but have negligible nutrient holding capacity, making these elements vulnerable to leaching loss. Consequently, the pre-eruption soils may also represent an important long-term P and K source.

Comparison of mine waste assessment methods at the Rattler mine site, Virginia Canyon, Colorado

In a joint project, the mine waste-piles at the Rattler Mine near Idaho Springs, Colorado, were sampled and analyzed by scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the Colorado School of Mines (CSM). Separate sample collection, sample leaching, and leachate analyses were performed by both groups and the results were compared. For the study, both groups used the USGS sampling procedure and the USGS Field Leach Test (FLT). The leachates generated from these tests were analyzed for a suite of elements using ICP-AES (CSM) and ICP-MS (USGS). Leachate geochemical fingerprints produced by the two groups for composites collected from the same mine waste showed good agreement. In another set of tests, CSM collected another set of Rattler mine waste composite samples using the USGS sampling procedure. This set of composite samples was leached using the Colorado Division of Minerals and Geology (CDMG) leach test, and a modified Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP) leach test. Leachate geochemical fingerprints produced using these tests showed a variation of more than a factor of two from the geochemical fingerprints produced using the USGS FLT leach test. We have concluded that the variation in the results is due to the different parameters of the leaching tests and not due to the sampling or analytical methods.

Environmental implications of the use of sulfidic back-bay sediments for dune reconstruction - Lessons learned post Hurricane Sandy.

Some barrier-island dunes damaged or destroyed by Hurricane Sandys storm surges in October 2012 have been reconstructed using sediments dredged from back bays. These sand-, clay-, and iron sulfide-rich sediments were used to make berm-like cores for the reconstructed dunes, which were then covered by beach sand. In November 2013, we sampled and analyzed partially weathered materials collected from the cores of reconstructed dunes. There are generally low levels of metal toxicants in the reconstructed dune materials. However oxidation of reactive iron sulfides by percolating rainwater produces acid-sulfate pore waters, which evaporate during dry periods to produce efflorescent gypsum and sodium jarosite salts. The results suggest use of sulfidic sediments in dune reconstruction has both drawbacks (e.g., potential to generate acid runoff from dune cores following rainfall, enhanced corrosion of steel bulwarks) and possible benefits (e.g., efflorescent salts may enhance structural integrity).

Geochemical results from stream-water and stream-sediment samples collected in Colorado and New Mexico

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Determining the toxicity potential of mine-waste piles

When assessing the environmental impact from mining operations, an immediate question arises about potential impact and toxicity of mine-waste piles. This question is particularly difficult to assess for waste piles on abandoned mine lands in the western United States and coal-waste piles in the eastern United States. In many of these situations, there is no water in direct contact with the piles, except during meteorological events, yet it appears that the pile has caused significant ecological disturbance. For the past several years, scientists at the Colorado School of Mines and the U.S. Geological Survey have been studying the toxicity potential of waste-rock piles. Simple and practical methods have been developed for determining the potential of a waste- rock pile to cause significant contamination. For example, quick inexpensive field leaching tests have been developed that offer an evaluation of acid and trace-metal release from mine-waste material. Additionally, two-dimensional hydrologic and erosion models might be used to assess acid and metal sources and sinks. Such methods are presented for evaluating mine-waste piles from watershed scale, site scale, and microscopic scale, using geophysical, geochemical, and mineralogical methods. Current methods used to determine bioaccessibility and bioavailability of metals from wastes, such as extraction techniques, are described and assessed. Case studies with field and laboratory data illustrate these methods. These applications are used as the basis for a simple decision tree that has been developed to assess the potential impact of a waste-rock pile, and the scientific background that serves as the basis for decisions. Workshop Time: 8:30 am – 4:00 pm, June 1, 2003 Workshop Organizers: Dr. Thomas R. Wildeman Dr. Kathleen S. Smith Dept. of Chemistry & Geochemistry U.S. Geological Survey Colorado School of Mines M.S. 973, Denver Federal Cntr. Golden, CO 80401 Denver, CO 80225-0046 Phone: 303-273-3642 Phone: 303-236-5788 E mail: twildema@mines.edu E mail: ksmith@usgs.gov