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Proof of concept for a passive sampler for monitoring of gaseous elemental mercury in artisanal gold mining.
de Barros Santos, Elias; Moher, Paleah; Ferlin, Stacy; Fostier, Anne Hélène; Mazali, Italo Odone; Telmer, Kevin; Brolo, Alexandre Guimarães.
Afiliação
  • de Barros Santos E; Institute of Science and Technology, Federal University of São Paulo, 12231-280, São José do Campos, SP, Brazil.
  • Moher P; Department of Chemistry, University of Victoria, PO Box 3055, V8W 3V6, Victoria, BC, Canada.
  • Ferlin S; Department of Geography, University of Victoria, V8W 3P2, Victoria, BC, Canada.
  • Fostier AH; Artisanal Gold Council, C100-633 Courtney Street., Victoria, B.C., V8W 1B9, Canada.
  • Mazali IO; Institute of Chemistry, University of Campinas, P.O. Box 6154, 13083-970, Campinas, SP, Brazil.
  • Telmer K; Institute of Chemistry, University of Campinas, P.O. Box 6154, 13083-970, Campinas, SP, Brazil.
  • Brolo AG; Functional Materials Laboratory - Institute of Chemistry, University of Campinas, PO Box 6154, Zip Code 13083-970, Campinas, SP, Brazil.
Sci Rep ; 7(1): 16513, 2017 11 28.
Article em En | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-29184193
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°. 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).
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Texto completo: 1 Coleções: 01-internacional Base de dados: MEDLINE Idioma: En Revista: Sci Rep Ano de publicação: 2017 Tipo de documento: Article País de afiliação: Brasil País de publicação: Reino Unido
Texto completo
Adicionar na Minha BVS
Imprimir
XML
PubMed Links
Buscar no Google

Texto completo: 1 Coleções: 01-internacional Base de dados: MEDLINE Idioma: En Revista: Sci Rep Ano de publicação: 2017 Tipo de documento: Article País de afiliação: Brasil País de publicação: Reino Unido