Among other methods, the mercury amalgamation is still used for extracting gold. In general, the mining process can be carried out using various methods, depending on available materials, equipment and knowledge. Mercury exposure is known to cause a considerable burden of disease in miners, being responsible for up to more than 2 million DALYs per year, especially in countries of the global south. observed that ASG miners have a high risk of being injured at work, while the safety precautions are at a low standard. In addition, the workers’ health is harmed by their work itself.

Mining waste including chemicals such as cyanide or mercury can pollute the environment, such as water, sediments and soil, finally affecting the human food chain, as well. On the other hand, negative effects concern the environment, with parts of the tropical rainforest in South America being destroyed in the context of gold mining. In addition, the companies that are members of the Ghana Chamber of Mines also support society by, for example, financially sponsoring projects in the fields of health or education. On the one hand, a striking positive aspect is its economic weight, for which Ghana is presented as an example: the gold mining industry alone amounted to 7.1% of Ghana’s national gross domestic product (GDP) in 2019 (provisional data) with a general increase in revenues. Gold mining, and ASGM in particular, is of great importance for low- and middle-income countries where it reveals both positive and negative aspects. This form of gold mining is predominantly practised in countries of the global south, for example, in Ghana, Ecuador and Indonesia. Nevertheless, official figures on the exact number of labourers are, to our knowledge, not obtainable, but approximate values suggest that about 16 million people work as ASG miners. As defined by the United Nations (U.N.), artisanal and small-scale gold miners (ASG miners) are persons who engage in mining as “individual miners or small enterprises with limited capital investment and production”. Geological Survey, about 3300 t in 2019, of which artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) is estimated to account for 380–450 t per year. The total annual gold production is, according to the U.S. Hence, the gold price has shown an overall upward trend over the last five decades and amounted to approximately 1800 USD/fine troy ounce in 2020, indicating it to remain a promising market.

Germany, for instance, possessed about 3400 t of gold ingots in 2020. Furthermore, gold is also of considerable relevance as a financial reserve for national banks. The jewellery industry processes gold for all conceivable kinds of products. One of the most impressive examples for its use in art is the world-famous death mask of the Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun. Since ancient times, gold has been one of the most desired and noble elements in the world, with an outstanding variety of application areas. The results demonstrate that occupational mercury exposure seriously affects miners’ health and well-being. Most of the included studies had a low methodological quality with an overall high risk of bias rating. However, many reported symptoms were largely unspecific, such as hair loss or pain. According to the quantitative assessment, occupational mercury exposure may cause a great variety of signs and symptoms, in particular in the field of neuro-psychological disorders, such as ataxia, tremor or memory problems. Researching the databases PubMed ®, EMBASE ® and Web of Science TM yielded in a total of 10,589 results, which were screened by two independent reviewers.

Therefore, a systematic review according to the PRISMA criteria was conducted in order to examine the health effects of occupational mercury exposure. A common gold extraction method uses liquid mercury, leading to a high exposure in workers. Gold is one of the most valuable materials but is frequently extracted under circumstances that are hazardous to artisanal and small-scale gold miners’ health.

Mercury poisoning effects