Lagoons of West African countries are seriously threatened by rapid artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) that exposes lagoons to mercury pollution. In this study, the mercury level in the sediments of the Tendo and Aby lagoons in Côte d’Ivoire had been evaluated. A total of 87 samples from 25 stations located on Tendo and Aby lagoons were analyzed by atomic fluorescence spectrometry. The mean Hg concentrations obtained in the sediments of Tendo and Aby lagoons were 0.89 ± 0.26 mg⋅kg -1 and 0.70 ± 0.18 mg⋅kg -1 , respectively. Hg concentrations evaluated in the bays of Tendo and Aby during the dry season were 1.38 ± 0.45 mg⋅kg -1 and 1.07 ± 0.31 mg⋅kg -1 , respectively. The minimum and maximum total Hg concentrations in the sediments from 25 stations were 0.04 and 3.56 mg⋅kg -1 , respectively. Mercury contamination in lagoons during ASGM poses risks of pollution for the lagoon ecosystem and also poses health risks for the population living near these lagoons.
Guédron, S. and Acha, D. (2021) Mercury and Methylmercury Contamination of Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecosystems. Applied Sciences, 11, Article No. 4807. https://doi.org/10.3390/app11114807
Mergler, D. (2021) Ecosystem Approaches to Mercury and Human Health: A Way toward the Future. Ambio, 50, 527-531. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-020-01455-0
Chen, C.Y., Driscoll, C.T., Lambert, K.F., Mason, R., Rardin, L., Serrell, N. and Sunderland, E. (2012) Marine Mercury Fate: From Sources to Seafood Consumers. Environmental Research, 119, 1-2. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2012.10.001
Kocman, D., Wilson, S.J., Amos, H.M., Telmer, K., Steenhuisen, F., Sunderland, E., Mason, R., Outridge, P. and Horvat, M. (2017) Toward an Assessment of the Global Inventory of Present-Day Mercury Releases to Freshwater Environments. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 14, Article No. 138. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14020138
Obrist, D., Kirk, J.L., Zhang, L., Sunderland, E.M., Jiskra, M. and Selin, N.E. (2018) A Review of Global Environmental Mercury Processes in Response to Human and Natural Perturbations: Changes of Emissions, Climate, and Land Use. Ambio, 47, 116-140. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-017-1004-9
Salomons, W. (1995) Long-Term Strategies for Handling Contaminated Sites and Large-Scale Areas. In: Salomons, W. and Stigliani, W.M., Eds., Biogeodynamics of Pollutants in Soils and Sediments, Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, 1-30. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-79418-6_1
Hossain, M.S., Ahmed, M.K., Liyana, E., Hossain, M.S., Jolly, Y.N., Kabir, M.J., Akter, S. and Rahman, M.S. (2021) A Case Study on Metal Contamination in Water and Sediment Near a Coal Thermal Power Plant on the Eastern Coast of Bangladesh. Environments, 8, Article No. 108. https://doi.org/10.3390/environments8100108
Zan, F., Huo, S., Zhang, J., Zhang, L., Xi, B. and Zhang, L. (2014) Arsenic Fractionation and Contamination Assessment in Sediments of Thirteen Lakes from the East Plain and Yungui Plateau Ecoregions, China. Journal of Environmental Sciences (China), 26, 1977-1984. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jes.2014.07.010
Lintern, A., Leahy, P., Deletic, A., Heijnis, H., Zawadzki, A., Gadd, P. and McCarthy, D. (2018). Uncertainties in Historical Pollution Data from Sedimentary Records from an Australian Urban Floodplain Lake. Journal of Hydrology, 560, 560-571. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2018.03.055
Mrozińska, N. and Bąkowska, M. (2020) Effects of Heavy Metals in Lake Water and Sediments on Bottom Invertebrates Inhabiting the Brackish Coastal Lake Łebsko on the Southern Baltic Coast. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17, Article No. 6848. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17186848
Hong, Z., Zhao, Q., Chang, J., Peng, L., Wang, S., Hong, Y., Liu, G. and Ding, S. (2020) Evaluation of Water Quality and Heavy Metals in Wetlands along the Yellow River in Henan Province. Sustainability, 12, Article No. 1300. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12041300
Telmer, K.H. and Veiga, M.M. (2009) World Emissions of Mercury from Artisanal and Small Scale Gold Mining. In: Mason, R. and Pirrone, N., Eds., Mercury Fate and Transport in the Global Atmosphere: Emissions, Measurements and Models. Springer, US, 131-172. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-93958-2_6
Telmer, K.H. and Veiga, M.M. (2009) World Emissions of Mercury from Artisanal and Small Scale Gold Mining. In: Mason, R. and Pirrone, N., Eds., In Mercury Fate and Transport in the Global Atmosphere: Emissions, Measurements and Models, Springer, Boston, 131-172. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-93958-2_6
United Nations Environment Programme (2013) Global Mercury Assessment 2013 Sources, Emissions, Releases and Environmental Transport. https://wedocs.unep.org/handle/20.500.11822/12325
United Nations Environment Programme and Global Mercury Partnership (2017) Developing a National Action Plan to Reduce and, Where Feasible, Eliminate Mercury Use in Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining - Guidance Document. https://wedocs.unep.org/20.500.11822/25473
Graham, E.B., Knelman, J.E., Gabor, R.S., Schooler, S., McKnight, D.M. and Nemergut, D.R. (2017) Trends in Dissolved Organic Matter Cycling, Sediment Microbiomes, and Methylmercury Production across Vegetation Heterogeneity in a Great Lakes Wetland. PeerJ, 7, Article No. e4575. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.4575
Martinez, G., McCord, S.A., Driscoll, C.T., Todorova, S., Wu, S., Araújo, J.F., Vega, C.M., and Fernandez, L.E. (2018) Mercury Contamination in Riverine Sediments and Fish Associated with Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining in Madre de Dios, Peru. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 15, Article No. 1584. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15081584
Goix, S., Maurice, L., Laffont, L., Rinaldo, R., Lagane, C., Chmeleff, J., Menges, J., Heimbürger, L., Maury-Brachet, R. and Sonke, J.E. (2019) Quantifying the Impacts of Artisanal Gold Mining on a Tropical River System using Mercury Isotopes. Chemosphere, 219, 684-694. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2018.12.036
Rajaee, M., Obiri, S., Green, A., Long, R., Cobbina, S., Nartey, V., Buck, D., Antwi, E. and Basu, N. (2015) Integrated Assessment of Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining in Ghana—Part 2: Natural Sciences Review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 12, 8971-9011. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph120808971
The World Bank (2013) Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining. https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/extractiveindustries/brief/artisanal-and-small-scale-mining
Mensah, S.K., Siabi, E.K., Donkor, P. and Kurantin, N. (2022) Assessing the Safety and Health Practices in the Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining Sector of Ghana: A Case of Ntotroso. Environ Challenges, 6, Article ID: 100443. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envc.2022.100443
Klubi, E., Abril, J.M., Nyarko, E. and Delgado, A. (2018) Impact of Gold-Mining Activity on Trace Elements Enrichment in the West African Estuaries: The Case of Pra and Ankobra Rivers with the Volta Estuary (Ghana) as the Reference. Journal of Geochemical Exploration, 190, 229-244. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gexplo.2018.03.014
Kinimo, K.C., Yao, K. M., Marcotte, S., Kouassi, N.L.B. and Trokourey, A. (2018) Preliminary Data on Arsenic and Trace Metals Concentrations in Wetlands around Artisanal and Industrial Mining Areas (Cote d’Ivoire, West Africa). Data in Brief, 18, 1987-1994. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dib.2018.04.105
Chantraine, J.-M. (1980) La lagune Aby (Côte d’Ivoire). Morphologie, hydrologie, paramètres physico-chimiques. Doc. Sci. Centre Reche Océanogr, Abidjan, 39-70.
RGPH (Recensement Général de la Population et de l’Habitat) (2014) Résultats Généraux. http://www.ins.ci/n/RESULTATSGLOBAUX.pdf
Charles-Dominique, E. (1993) Exploitation de la lagune Aby (Côte d’Ivoire) par la pêche artisanal. Dynamique des ressources, de l’exploitation et des pêcheries. Biologie des populations et Ecologie, Université de Montpellier II - Sciences et Techniques du Languedoc, 403.
Quémerais, B., Cossa, D., Rondeau, B., Pham, T.T., Gagnon, P. and Fortin, B. (1999) Sources and Fluxes of Mercury in the St. Lawrence River. Environmental Science and Technology, 33, 840-849. https://doi.org/10.1021/es980400a
Morita, H., Tanaka, H. and Shimomura, S. (1995) Atomic Fluorescence Spectrometry of Mercury: Principles and Developments. Spectrochimica Acta Part B: Atomic Spectroscopy, 50, 69-84. https://doi.org/10.1016/0584-8547(94)00116-D
Cai, Y. (2000) Speciation and Analysis of Mercury, Arsenic, and Selenium by Atomic Fluorescence Spectrometry. TrAC Trends in Analytical Chemistry, 19, 62-66. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0165-9936(99)00180-6
Hamilton, E. (1991) Introduction to Microwave Sample Preparation Edited by H.M. Kingston and L.B. Jassie, American Chemical Society Professional Reference Book, American Chemical Society, Washington, DC, 1988, 263 pp. Price: ￡59.95. The Science of the Total Environment, 103, 245-246. https://doi.org/10.1016/0048-9697(91)90149-9
Tseng, C.M., Garraud, H., Amouroux, D. and Donard, O.F.X. (1998) Open Focused Microwave-Assisted Sample Preparation for Rapid Total and Mercury Species Determination in Environmental Solid Samples. Journal of Automatic Chemistry, 20, Article ID: 487680. https://doi.org/10.1155/S1463924698000145
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (2007) Method 7471B. Mercury in Solid or Semisolid Waste (Manual Cold-Vapor Technique). United States Environmental Protection Agency, Washington DC. https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2015-12/documents/7471b.pdf
Koffi, K.M., Coulibaly, S., Atse, B.C. and Paul, E. (2014) Survey of Heavy Metals Concentrations in Water and Sediments of the EStuary Betri Bay, Ebrie Lagoon, Cote d’Ivoire. International Journal of Research in Earth & Environmental Sciences, 1, 1-10.
Kehrig, H.A., Pinto, F.N., Moreira. I. and Malm, O. (2003) Heavy Metals and Methylmercury in a Tropical Coastal Estuary and a Mangrove in Brazil. Organic Geochemistry, 34, 661-669. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0146-6380(03)00021-4
Veeck, L., Wasserman, J.C., Sella, S.M., Santos, I.R. and Lacerda, L.D. (2007) Mercury Distribution in Sediments of a Sub-Tropical Coastal Lagoon, Sepetiba Bay, Se Brazil. Geochimica Brasiliensis, 21, 50-57.
Kouamenan, N.M., Coulibaly, S., Atse, B.C. and Goore, B.G. (2019) Seasonal and Spatial Variations of Heavy Metals in Water and Sediments from Mainland and Maritime Areas of Ebrie Lagoon (Côte d’Ivoire, Western Africa). International Journal of Biological and Chemical Sciences, 13, 2374-2387. https://doi.org/10.4314/ijbcs.v13i4.39
Tomiyasu, T., Hamada, Y.K., Baransano, C., Hidayati, N. and Rahajoe, J.S. (2019) Time Variation in Transfer Amounts of Mercury by a River System Near an Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining Area in West Java, Indonesia. Environmental Earth Sciences, 78, Article No. 686. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-019-8727-9
Institut national de l’environnement industriel et des risques [INERIS] (2010) Qualité chimique des sédiments marins en France. Rapport d’étude 02/11/2010.
de Almeida, R., Bernardi, J.V.E., Oliveira, R.C., de Carvalho, D.P., Manzatto, A.G., de Lacerda, L.D. and Bastos, W.R. (2014) Flood Pulse and Spatial Dynamics of Mercury in Sediments in Puruzinho Lake, Brazilian Amazon. Acta Amazonica, 44, 99-105. https://doi.org/10.1590/S0044-59672014000100010
Mirlean, N., Andrus, V.E. and Baisch, P. (2003) Mercury Pollution Sources in Sediments of Patos Lagoon Estuary, Southern Brazil. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 46, 331-334. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0025-326X(02)00404-6
Mason, R.P., Baumann, Z., Hansen, G., Yao, K.M., Coulibaly, M. and Coulibaly, S. (2019) An Assessment of the Impact of Artisanal and Commercial Gold Mining on Mercury and Methylmercury Levels in the Environment and Fish in Cote d’Ivoire. Science of the Total Environment, 665, 1158-1167. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.01.393
Miyittah, M.K., Tulashie, S.K., Tsyawo, F.W., Sarfo, J.K. and Darko, A.A. (2020) Assessment of Surface Water Quality Status of the Aby Lagoon System in the Western Region of Ghana. Heliyon, 6, Article ID: E04466. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e04466
Bakri, B., Sumakin, A., Widiasari, Y. and Ihsan, M. (2020). Distribution Pattern of Water Salinity Analysis in Jeneberang River Estuary Using ArcGIS. IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, 419, Article ID: 012116. https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/419/1/012116
Teisserenc, R., Lucotte, M., Canuel, R., Moingt, M. and Obrist, D. (2014) Combined Dynamics of Mercury and Terrigenous Organic Matter Following Impoundment of Churchill Falls Hydroelectric Reservoir, Labrador. Biogeochemistry, 118, 21-34. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-013-9902-9
Ferreira-Rodríguez, N., Castro, A.J., Tweedy, B.N., Quintas-Soriano, C. and Vaughn, C.C. (2021) Mercury Consumption and Human Health: Linking Pollution and Social Risk Perception in the Southeastern United States. Journal of Environmental Management, 282, Article ID: 111528. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2020.111528
Moriarity, R.J., Liberda, E.N. and Tsuji, L.J.S. (2020) Subsistence Fishing in the Eeyou Istchee (James Bay, Quebec, Canada): A Regional Investigation of Fish Consumption as a Route of Exposure to Methylmercury. Chemosphere, 258, Article ID: 127413. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2020.127413
Taylor, V.F., Buckman, K.L., Seelen, E.A., Mazrui, N.M., Balcom, P.H., Mason, R.P. and Chen, C.Y. (2019) Organic Carbon Content Drives Methylmercury Levels in the Water Column and in Estuarine Food Webs across Latitudes in the Northeast United States. Environmental Pollution, 246, 639-649. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2018.12.064
Bełdowski, J., Szubska, M., Bełdowska, M., Jankowska, K., Kotlarska, E. and Graca, B. (2018) Seasonal Changes of Mercury Speciation in the Coastal Sediments. Journal of Soils and Sediments, 18, 3424-3436. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-018-1993-4
Kouassi, A.M. and Adingra, A.A. (2005) Surveillance hydrologique des eaux de la lagune Ebrié au niveau d’Abidjan, 1-18.
Wango, T.D. (2009) Modélisation de l’hydrodynamique, de la dispersion du sel et de l’eau douce dans le complexe lagunaire de côte d’ivoire (Grand-Lahou, Ebrié et Aby). Thèse, Université de Côte d’Ivoire (Cote d’Ivoire).
Kambiré, O., Adingra, A.A., Eblin, S.G., Aka, N., Kakou, A.C. and Koffi-Nevry, R. (2014) Caractérisation des eaux d’une lagune estuarienne de la Côte d’Ivoire: La Lagune Aby Characterization of an Estuarine Lagoon Waters of Ivory Coast: The Aby Lagoon. Larhyss Journal, 20, 1112-3680.
Zeng, J., Han, G. and Yang, K. (2020) Assessment and Sources of Heavy Metals in Suspended Particulate Matter in a Tropical Catchment, Northeast Thailand. Journal of Cleaner Production, 265, Article ID: 121898. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.121898