The occurrence of mercury (Hg) in the environment globally has been linked largely to its use for gold processing. In this research, ore samples, agricultural soil and mine wastes were taken within the vicinity of an artisanal gold mine and processing sites in Niger state, a north-central part of Nigeria to determine Hg contamination in the environment and estimate the potential hazard to health. The values of Hg measured in ore, agricultural soil and mine wastes ranged between 0.03 and 5.9, 0.002 and 5.57 and 0.19 and 20.99 mg/kg, respectively, with the majority of samples observed above the crustal average values of 0.003 mg/kg. All of the samples were 100 times greater than the USEPA residential soil screening level of 0.0023 mg/kg, but were lower than comparable mine sites within the same region. Contamination indices were used to demonstrate the potential exposure to Hg contamination in the study area which ranged from a medium to high level of contamination. Average daily dose and hazard quotient (HQ) were calculated for adults and children in the study area and decreased in the following order: ADDvapour > ADDingestion > ADDdermal > ADDinhalation. The non-carcinogenic health risk index (HI) of Hg calculated for children and adults in the study area was children: 7.42, 2.19, 1.49 and adults: 4.45, 1.26, 1.19, for mine wastes, agricultural soil and ore, respectively. All of these values were higher than a considered safe level (= 1) and therefore showed that Hg posed a serious non-carcinogenic HI for both adults and children exposed to the soil in the study area. The bioaccessible fraction as a measure of ingestion for Hg was generally < 13% across all sample matrices, suggesting a low bioaccessibility. An HQ incorporating bioaccessible data (BHQ) ranged between 0.000005 and 4.06 with a mean value of 0.62. Values for the BHQ were still > 1, threshold limit in some samples and showed that Hg could present a risk to health via ingestion, although further research is required to assess dermal and inhalation bioaccessibility to assess fully the risk to residents. However, the values were lower than the non-carcinogenic health risk index, which is assumed to be overestimated.

全球环境中汞 (Hg) 的出现在很大程度上与其用于黄金加工的用途有关。在这项研究中，在尼日利亚中北部尼日尔州的一个手工金矿和加工场附近采集了矿石样品、农业土壤和矿山废料，以确定环境中的汞污染并估计对健康的潜在危害. 在矿石、农业土壤和矿山废物中测得的汞值分别介于 0.03 和 5.9、0.002 和 5.57 以及 0.19 和 20.99 毫克/千克之间，大多数样品观察到的地壳平均值高于 0.003 毫克/千克。所有样品都比 USEPA 住宅土壤筛查水平 0.0023 mg/kg 高 100 倍，但低于同一地区的可比矿场。污染指数用于证明研究区域中汞污染的潜在暴露程度，从中等到高污染水平不等。计算研究区成人和儿童的平均每日剂量和危害商 (HQ)，并按以下顺序降低：ADDvapour > ADDingestion > ADDdermal > ADDinhalation。研究区儿童和成人汞的非致癌健康风险指数（HI）分别为儿童：7.42、2.19、1.49，成人：4.45、1.26、1.19，矿山废弃物、农业土壤和矿石。所有这些值都高于认为的安全水平（= 1），因此表明汞对暴露于研究区域土壤的成人和儿童构成严重的非致癌 HI。在所有样品基质中，作为 Hg 摄入量度的生物可及性分数通常 < 13%，表明生物可及性较低。包含生物可访问数据 (BHQ) 的 HQ 介于 0.000005 和 4.06 之间，平均值为 0.62。BHQ 的值仍然 > 1，一些样本的阈值限制，表明汞可能通过摄入对健康构成风险，尽管需要进一步研究来评估皮肤和吸入的生物可及性，以全面评估对居民的风险。然而，这些值低于非致癌性健康风险指数，该指数被认为被高估了。一些样本的阈值限制，并表明汞可能通过摄入对健康构成风险，尽管需要进一步研究来评估皮肤和吸入的生物可及性，以全面评估对居民的风险。然而，这些值低于非致癌性健康风险指数，该指数被认为被高估了。一些样本的阈值限制，并表明汞可能通过摄入对健康构成风险，尽管需要进一步研究来评估皮肤和吸入的生物可及性，以全面评估对居民的风险。然而，这些值低于非致癌性健康风险指数，该指数被认为被高估了。