Author |
Santos, Elias de Barros
![]() ![]() Moher, Paleah ![]() Ferlin, Stacy ![]() Fostier, Anne Helene ![]() Mazali, Italo Odone ![]() Telmer, Kevin ![]() Brolo, Alexandre Guimaraes ![]() |
Abstract | Mercury emissions from artisanal gold mining operations occurring in roughly 80 developing countries are a major workplace health hazard for millions of people as well as the largest contributor to global mercury pollution. There are no portable, cheap, and rapid methods able to inform workers or health practitioners of mercury exposure on site in remote locations. In this work, a proof of concept for a miniaturized mercury sampler, prepared by the direct reduction of gold into the porous nanostructures of Vycor glass (PVG), is introduced. Mercury retention on the PVG/Au sampler induces significant color changes, due to the formation of Au-Hg amalgam that affects the surface plasmon resonance characteristics of the material. The color change can potentially be quantified by the analysis of pictures obtained with a cell phone camera rapidly and onsite. Laboratory experiments showed the viability of using PVG/Au as passive sampler for monitoring of Hg degrees. PVG/Au samplers were then deployed in an artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) operations in Burkina Faso and it was able to indicate personal mercury exposures. The amount of mercury quantified in the samplers for all miners was higher than the current personal exposure limit set by the US Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA). |
xmlui.dri2xhtml.METS-1.0.item-coverage | London |
Language | English |
Sponsor |
FAPESP
NSERC United States Department of State (USDoS) United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) post-doctoral fellowship from CNPq (Science Without Borders) post-doctoral fellowship from CIHR Artisanal Gold Council Ministry of the Environment Ministry of Mines Ministry of Health of Burkina Faso |
Grant number |
|
Date | 2017 |
Published in | Scientific Reports. London, v. 7, p. -, 2017. |
ISSN | 2045-2322 (Sherpa/Romeo, impact factor) |
Publisher | Nature Publishing Group |
Extent | - |
Origin |
|
Access rights | Open access ![]() |
Type | Article |
Web of Science ID | WOS:000416398100063 |
URI | https://repositorio.unifesp.br/handle/11600/58162 |
Name:
WOS000416398100063.pdf
Size: 2.027Mb Format: PDF Description: |
Open file |