Economic benefit of ecological remediation of mercury pollution in southwest China 2007-2022.
Environ Int
; 189: 108792, 2024 Jul.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38838487
ABSTRACT
Methylmercury (MeHg) exposure via rice consumption poses health risk to residents in mercury contaminated areas, such as the Wanshan Hg mining area (WSMA) in southwest China. Making use of the published data for WSMA, this study developed a database of rice MeHg concentrations for different villages in this region for the years of 2007, 2012, 2017, and 2019. The temporal changes of human MeHg exposure, health effects, and economic benefits under different ecological remediation measures were then assessed. Results from this study revealed a decrease of 3.88 µg/kg in rice MeHg concentration and a corresponding reduction of 0.039 µg/kg/d in probable daily intake of MeHg in 2019 compared to 2007 on regional average in the WSMA. Ecological remediation measures in this region resulted in the accumulated economic benefits of $38.7 million during 2007-2022, of which 84 % was from pollution source treatment and 16 % from planting structure adjustment. However, a flooding event in 2016 led to an economic loss of $2.43 million (0.38 % of regional total Gross Domestic Product). Planting structure adjustment generates the greatest economic benefits in the short term, whereas pollution source treatment maximizes economic benefits in the long term and prevents the perturbations from flooding event. These findings demonstrate the importance of ecological remediation measures in Hg polluted areas and provide the foundation for risk assessment of human MeHg exposure via rice consumption.
Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Oryza
/
Restauración y Remediación Ambiental
/
Mercurio
/
Compuestos de Metilmercurio
Límite:
Humans
País/Región como asunto:
Asia
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Environ Int
Año:
2024
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
China
Pais de publicación:
Países Bajos