Health damage caused by heavy metals from gold mining: a review

In recent years, China′s gold industry has developed rapidly, including the mining of gold mines. The production process of gold mines generally includes rock drilling, crushing, handling, grinding, smelting and other processes. The entire mining process and the processing stage of tailings slag could result in a variety of heavy metal pollution (such as copper, lead, mercury). The effects of heavy metals are of long-term, concealed and irreversible characteristics, which cause not only pollution to the environment, but also pose a threat to the health of residents and miners around the mine site. Excessive copper in the body is inextricably linked to various diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease and diabetes. Excessive lead intake can lead to DNA damage and oxidative damage and could cause cancer in some circumstances. If accumulated excessively in the body, mercury would damage several organ systems. Understanding the ways in which gold mining induces heavy metal pollution and the health damage among populations exposed to the pollutants are important to implement protective measures against gold mining-related heavy metal pollution and among residents living around gold mines to protect the health of the population.