With an increasing global demand for metals, mining corporations have to scale up their mining operations in order to meet that demand at the expense of the environment. The enormous demand originates from mining’s essential role in society to produce various products designed to benefit the populace. These products range from small handheld devices that aid in everyday life or large machines that supported the foundation of society. However, mining leads to a variety of byproducts that affect the environment, for better or for worse. These byproducts are often composed of chemicals and metals not seen in nature. Some chemicals do not pose any significant threat to the environment, while others are toxic to animals and plants and can take years to clean up.
Addressing the issue of regulating mining waste disposal is imperative due to the potential damage mining waste can cause to the environment. Mining waste are composed of undesirable heavy metals as well as solvents and compounds used to extract ores chemically. These chemicals are often not natural to the environment and can cause significant damage to various parts of the body. For example, the metals present in mining waste, such as arsenic, manganese, lead, and cadmium, have been shown to alter dopamine release in rats. The study, published in 1998, demonstrated that “rats exposed to mining waste released more dopamine, less DOPAC, and less HVA by about 15, 50, and 55 pentagram per microliter, respectively, compared to rats not exposed to mining waste when release [of dopamine] is stimulated” (Rodriguez, et.al 489). It is important to notice that these metals only compose a fraction of mining wastes, and that mining industries produce more waste than what is exposed to the ...
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8) Meiri, H., Banin, E., Roll, M., Rousseau, A. Toxic Effects of Aluminum on Nerve Cells and Synaptic Transmission. Progress in Neurobiology, 40: 89-121 (1993).
...sumption, creates emission of greenhouse gases and other harmful chemical materials. Once released into the air, it can cause environmental problems, which in turn threatens not only the environment, but also the health of the people who live in it. In order to reduce the use of energy to help protect our planet and our health, the diamond mining industry has implemented renewable energy programs to monitor energy and carbon emission. Since its beginning, mining company PHP Billiton program has saved an equivalent of one million liters of diesel fuel per year at their Ekati Diamond Mine in Canada’s Northwest Territories. The health of the environment and the health of humanity are as one. Whatever we do to our planet, we do to ourselves. Reducing energy consumption of diamond mining not only helps protect our planet, but also helps protect the health of our people.
Question: In considering the monetary estimates of childhood lead poisoning prevention, list and note the relative importance of the categories of costs and benefits that need to be considered is projecting a cost/benefit ratio. Use a standard housing remediation approach for those expenses. Where does the balance lay? What are the options and barriers to moving it forward?General Effects of Childhood Lead Poisoning When lead in inhaled it, the lead could be deposited in the bones where some essential body function occurs e.g. blood formations, calcium absorption. Lead is also transported in blood stream and deposited in muscle and nerves and blood vessels. The deposition of lead in these organs systems eventually results in the malfunctioning of these organs. These malfunctions could include decrease in bone and muscle growth/co-ordination, damage to the nervous system and other organs of the body. (KidsHealth, 1995-2010) The above mentioned effects could also impair breakdown and use of nutrients by the body, decreased hearing ability. In addition, it affects child growth, in the sense that it has been shown that children with higher blood lead levels may on average be shorter than their genetic potential by 1cm.Effect of Lead on cognition and Behavior of Children: Lead poisoning have been identified as one of the factors responsible for cognitive deficits and mental illness among children. There has been shown a correlation between Blood Lead Level and cognitive functioning in children and infant (Bruce P. Lanphear, 2005). Bruce P et al in a study of Low-level environmental lead exposure and children's intellectual function, showed an inverse relationship between blood lead concentrations and IQ score...
Soil pollution due to Arsenic (As) has been grabbed much attention in recent years due to its intimidation to human health and unfavorable effects on the growth of animals and plants (Duker et al , 2005; Williams et al., 2005). Volcanisms released Arsenic in the air which is brought to the earth surface by the rain water and contaminate the soil. Arsenic is also produced by the weathering of arsenic-containing minerals and ores, and by Sources commercial or industrial processes.
Throughout this mining process a byproduct is created called chat. The chat is leftover rock and waste from mining that did not contained the desired materials. The chat was left on the site because the Bureau of Indian Affairs thought it could be of value to the Quapaw tribe (1). This chat contained high levels of toxic lead and other harmful chemicals. It is estimated that there are 75 Million tons (150 billion pounds) of chat piles remaining exposed to the environment as well as numerous flotation ponds that haven’t been taken into account (4).
Many animals such as rats, mice, dogs, cats, birds, and monkeys are forced endure unnecessary pain due to animal testing. It is inhumane to use animals for toxicity testing because the animals are left to suffer or die after they are used. According to an online article, “some are forced to inhale toxic fumes, others are immobili...
4.Bressler, J. P. and Goldstein, G.W. "Mechanisms of Lead Toxicity." Biochemical Pharmacology. 1991; 41: 479-84.
Lead is considered to be a toxic heavy metal. It occurs naturally in the Earth’s crust. However, it tends to combine with other elements to form lead compounds. (Registry, 2011). Moreover, it has no known function in the body and with excess accumulation, either acute or chronic, will cause a wide array of metabolic dysfunctions by interfering with normal metabolic functions (Analytical Research Laboratories, 2012). From a historical standpoint, most human beings if not all have accumulated some lead in their bodies over the course of their daily lives. In extreme cases, that is, when there is too much lead in the body it is known to cause lead poisoning. In order to fully understand this phenomenon, one must first acknowledge; how lead enters the body, how it is distributed, and how and if it is eliminated.
It is recognized that in a time when the Internet and technology have taken over; mining still employees and provides livelihood to a vase number of people. However, the process of mining affects our health and our environment. According to Wikipedia, “The environmental impact of mining include erosion , formation of sinkholes, loss of biodiversity, and contamination of soil, groundwater and surface water by chemicals from mining proces...
Impacts of coal mining are visible by landscapes that lack the beauty of a mountainous backdrop and landscapes that are void of any trees or plants. These areas are left barren by the excavating of the earth in order to reveal the coal hidden underneath (Theilmann, 2015). In conjunction with the impact on the environment, various health issues have arisen, along with the heightened issues of safety. Black lung, a respiratory disease, and mine accidents are responsible for thousands of mine workers being injured or even killed every year. These deaths are a result of suffocation from poisonous gases found within the mines and explosions that lead to the collapsing of mines roofs. The mortality rates of workers in the coal mining industry has one of the highest ranks in the industrial sector of mining (Joyce, 1998). As evident, the destruction left behind by the mining of coal is detrimental to the environment and has a huge impact on the welfare of the mine workers employed by the coal mining
CHEMICHALS: Scientist have defined hundreds of chemicals that can cause cancer in animals. These chemicals are also a cancer hazard for human beings if they become widespread in food supply, the general environment, or the living and working environment. In most cases, a chemical carcinogen enters the food supply as a food addi...
Though I will summarize most of the unethical issues with gold mining, many of the same unethical issues apply to most mining. Because it creates an enormous amount of toxic waste and is considered as one of the most environmentally destructive forms of mining, gold mining cause more than a few issues with the ecosystem. Gold mining is the leading cause of manmade global mercury pollution. Many gold mines dump their toxic waste directly in natural water bodies. When one considers that to mine gold for a 0.333 ounce ring equates to 20 tons of toxic waste, the amounts of toxic waste is massive. Companies that mine for gold and other metals dump at least 180 million tons of toxic waste in rivers, lakes, and oceans every year, 1.5 times the amount of waste U.S. cities send to landfills yearly. Another ethical issue in the mining industry is labor concerns. Labor practices in gold mines are far from responsible. Most gold miners work in dangerous conditions and earn so little money that they live in poverty. The most vulnerable gold miners are the youngest; an estimated 600,000 gold miners are children. Poverty is an issue that lies beneath gold mining labor practices. Gold mining can be a path to riches but for most miners it leads to a life of poverty. About 15million people in Africa, Asia, and Latin America are artisanal gold miners. Artisanal miners use simple
Also, when soil in and close production ranges turn out to be unclean due to dumping of excess material, such terrestrial cannot be used for farming processes. Pollution is also caused by iron and steel mills; zinc, lead, and copper smelters; municipal incinerators; oil refineries; cement plants; and nitric and sulphuric acid plants. Soil pollution is mostly due to elements in herbicides (wild plant killers) and pesticides (toxins which kill flies and other invertebrate mice). Litter is unused material put in public places such as streets, parks, picnic areas and near shops. The addition of waste intimidates the wellbeing of individuals in housing areas. Waste decays, heartens domestic rascals and goes urban places into unappealing, unclean and unhealthy areas to live in.( (Michael
In our days, mining for resources is inevitable. The resources we need are valuable in everyday life. Such resources mined up are coal, copper, gold, silver, and sand. However, mining poses environmental risks that can degrade the quality of soil and water, which can end up effecting us humans if not taken care of and many of the damages are irreversible once they have occurred.