Determinación de Mercurio en Mineros Artesanales en la Comunidad Puzuno de la Ciudad del Tena

Abstract

During the process of obtaining gold, a series of processes occur. Within these processes, amalgamation takes place; Mercury vapor is released and then inhaled by mine workers. The objective of the current research is to identify the levels of mercury in the blood of handicraft miners. The specific objectives of the research is to quantify the concentration of Mercury in a sample of blood, identify the most common sicknesses related with exposure to Mercury, establish the percent of miners that have been affected by the exposure to Mercury and describe other risk factors for those who are exposed to the mines. The research begins with 25 handicraft miners who met all the inclusion criteria and signed the consent form and moreover filled out surveys to identify the predisposition factors and level of knowledge that miners possess about the outlined theme, in which it was found that 72% of the miners studied have elevated levels of Mercury in the blood, principally related with the small importance given to the use of personal protection equipment, it was found that the principal clinical manifestations that the miners demonstrate with high levels of Mercury in the blood are body shakes in some part of the body, headaches, sadness, anxiety and Gingivitis.