Impacts of metal mining on river systems: a global assessment-Reference-Cited by-同舟云学术

Impacts of metal mining on river systems: a global assessment

Published:2023-09-22 Issue:6664 Volume:381 Page:1345-1350
ISSN:0036-8075
Container-title:Science
language:en
Short-container-title:Science

Author:

Macklin M. G.¹²³^ORCID,Thomas C. J.¹⁴^ORCID,Mudbhatkal A.¹^ORCID,Brewer P. A.⁵^ORCID,Hudson-Edwards K. A.⁶^ORCID,Lewin J.⁵^ORCID,Scussolini P.⁷^ORCID,Eilander D.⁷⁸^ORCID,Lechner A.⁹^ORCID,Owen J.¹⁰^ORCID,Bird G.¹¹,Kemp D.¹²,Mangalaa K. R.¹³

Affiliation:

1. Lincoln Centre for Water and Planetary Health, University of Lincoln, Lincoln, UK.

2. Innovative River Solutions, Institute of Agriculture and Environment, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand.

3. Centre for the Study of the Inland, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia.

4. University of Namibia, Windhoek, Namibia.

5. Department of Geography and Earth Sciences, Aberystwyth University, Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, UK.

6. Environment & Sustainability Institute and Camborne School of Mines, University of Exeter, Penryn, Cornwall, UK.

7. Institute for Environmental Studies, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands.

8. Department of Inland Water Systems, Deltares, Delft, Netherlands Institute for Environmental Studies, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands.

9. Monash University Indonesia, Jakarta, Indonesia.

10. Centre for Development Support, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa.

11. School of Natural Sciences, Bangor University, Bangor, Gwynedd, UK.

12. Centre for Social Responsibility in Mining, Sustainable Minerals Institute, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Australia.

13. Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India, New Delhi, India.

Abstract

An estimated 23 million people live on floodplains affected by potentially dangerous concentrations of toxic waste derived from past and present metal mining activity. We analyzed the global dimensions of this hazard, particularly in regard to lead, zinc, copper, and arsenic, using a georeferenced global database detailing all known metal mining sites and intact and failed tailings storage facilities. We then used process-based and empirically tested modeling to produce a global assessment of metal mining contamination in river systems and the numbers of human populations and livestock exposed. Worldwide, metal mines affect 479,200 kilometers of river channels and 164,000 square kilometers of floodplains. The number of people exposed to contamination sourced from long-term discharge of mining waste into rivers is almost 50 times greater than the number directly affected by tailings dam failures.

Publisher

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Subject

Multidisciplinary

Link

https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/science.adg6704

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