Determination of total mercury in workers' urine in gold shops of Itaituba, Pará State, Brazil

Abstract

Gold extraction and its commercialization in the Amazon region is mainly by rudimentary procedures. Therefore, during the process of extraction and recovery of this precious metal, large amounts of mercury vapors are thrown into the environment. This paper is an attempt to establish a correlation between the concentration of total mercury in the urine of workers at the gold shop in the Municipality of Itaituba, Para, and the information related to the ´ lifestyles of each individual studied. Through statistical analysis, it was possible to divide the workers into three groups: people with normal mercury concentrations, Hg w xF10 ppb, 29% ; with concentrations at the biological limit Ž . of tolerance, Hg up to 50 ppb, 49% ; and contaminated people, Hg w x Ž . w xG50 ppb 22% . It may be concluded that fish Ž . consumption, time of alcohol consumption, number of amalgam fillings, as well as working hours, are important variables when evaluating mercurial contamination of people who are occupationally exposed to mercury vapors.