Metal Mining Pollution affects more than 23 million people around the world

According to a recent study, around 23 million people worldwide are highly affected by floodplains that are contaminated by the toxic waste produced through metal mining. The harmful concentrations have been quiet lately and UK Scientists have a research on that.

Currently, more than 22,609 active along with 159,735 abandoned metal mines around the globe have been mapped by scientists to calculate the extent of pollutants produced by them. Harmful chemicals can easily leach through soil and waterways connected to the mines and therefore, these mines are required to be planned more carefully.

Prof Mark Macklin from the University of Lincoln, the lead of the research said, “We’ve known about this for a long time.” The professor further added, “What’s alarming for me is the legacy (which is referred to as pollution from abandoned mines) is still affecting millions of people.” The data revealed in the journal on pollution from mining activity is quite alarming.

The scientists have compiled data from governments, mining companies, and organizations like the US Geological Survey and through published journals on mining activity around the world. The mines are chosen based on their location, the metal extracted, and whether it is active or not.

Prof Macklin said that in most cases, the metal extracted from metal mining is bound to leave sediment on the ground. He added, “It’s this material – eroded from mine waste tips, or in contaminated soil – that ends up in river channels or deposited over a flood-plain.”

The data further revealed that mining waste is being produced from both current and historical mining activity as inactive mines are actively affecting nature. Chris Thomas, a professor of water and planetary health at the University of Lincoln, said, “We mapped the area that’s likely to be affected, which, when you combine that with population data, shows that 23 million people in the world are living on the ground that would be considered ‘contaminated’.”

He further stressed, “Whether those people will be affected by that contamination, we simply can’t tell with this research, and there are many ways that people may be exposed, but there is agriculture and irrigation in many of those areas.”  It is more terrifying as the crop grows on contaminated ground and can consist of mining waste when harvested.

Prof Jamie Woodward from the University of Manchester, said, “A good deal of river monitoring is focused on water when the real ‘nasties’ are often associated with river sediments.” He further added, “We need to better understand how contaminants are transported in the environment and where they are stored. This allows us to assess hazards and to mitigate against them. Heavily contaminated flood-plain grasslands should not be used for livestock grazing, for example.”

As mining started in the historic age, the pollution from mining has prolonged effects. Researchers said that the waste from mining started to contaminate river systems as early as 7,000 years ago.