Abstract
To obtain the baseline information of mercury pollution due to gold mining activities in Prestea and its environs total mercury (T-Hg) concentrations were measured in water and stream sediment. The samples were analyzed by instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA). They were irradiated and counted without any preconcentration. Higher levels of T-Hg concentration were found in samples at the sites with extensive small-scale ‘galamsey’ gold mining activities than at the sites with low small-scale ‘galamsey’ activities. Concentrations varied between 6.80-19.82 mg/l for water and 28.90-84.30 mg/kg in sediment at sites with extensive small-scale mining activities. At low small-scale mining sites concentration levels for T-Hg varied between 0.50-9.10 mg/l and 1.20-22.75 mg/kg in water and sediment, respectively. The concentration levels of T-Hg in water from all the sampling sites are in excess of the WHO tolerable limit of 0.001 mg/l for drinking water.
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Serfor-Armah, Y., Nyarko, B.J.B., Adotey, D.K. et al. The impact of small-scale mining activities on the levels of mercury in the environment: The case of Prestea and its environs. Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry 262, 685–690 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-004-0493-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-004-0493-8