Abstract

VON THADEN UGALDE, Hugo Adalberto; ROBLES, Celerino  and  FUENTE CARRASCO, Mario Enrique. MINING ACTIVITY IN THE 20TH CENTURY IN THE OAXACA VALLEY: TODAY’S PUBLIC HEALTH RISKS. Rev. Int. Contam. Ambient [online]. 2020, vol.36, n.1, pp.165-175.  Epub Dec 22, 2020. ISSN 0188-4999.  https://doi.org/10.20937/rica.2020.36.53209.

The abandonment of mining is a topic that has gone unnoticed in the national debate since the mid-twentieth century, as well as in the normativity. The tailings, stacks of ground rocks that remain after the minerals of interest are extracted from the rocks, have a socio-environmental impact. However, the responsibilities of companies, the State and, in general, of civil society against the contaminating effects of tailings have not been defined. The present study evaluates the socio-environmental situation in San Jerónimo Taviche, Oaxaca, Mexico, where transnational companies generated large volumes of tailings. To evaluate the environmental part, 10 samples of water bodies and 13 soil samples were analyzed in which the concentration level of the total heavy metals (cadmium, copper, mercury, lead and zinc) was quantified by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. To evaluate the social aspects, semi-structured interviews were conducted with the miners, telesecundaria students and doctors from the health center, where the working conditions, the extraction processes of the heavy metals and the most common diseases in the miners were registered. It was found that the concentrations of some metals exceed the limits established by current Mexican normativity; in addition, interviews showed that the population is unaware of the health risks arising from the tailings. The present investigation allows understanding the vision of the sanitary and environmental risks that the abandoned tailings represent for the population.

Keywords : mine tailings; heavy metals; San Jerónimo Taviche.

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