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Study of Cyanide Contamination of Market Garden and Agricultural Products Grown Around the Samira Gold Mine (Niger)

Received: 14 February 2022    Accepted: 9 March 2022    Published: 15 March 2022
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Abstract

The term cyanide refers to all the compounds producing the ─C≡N group. It comes from both anthropogenic and natural origins. Its presence in the environment is largely related to gold mining. Cyanide is very scary because of its toxicity causing very deadly environmental consequences. The objective of this work is to study the fate of cyanide and assess its contamination on the environment in the vicinity of a potential source of pollution such as a gold mine. In this study, soils and foods samples from the Samira gold mine and its surroundings in southwestern Niger were collected, analysed and compared with equivalent control samples grown in areas free of any industrial cyanide source. Total cyanide contents in the soils of the Samira site and its surroundings are 2 to 104 times higher than the Canadian standard (0.90 µg g-1 CN-) for agricultural soils, while the control soils are almost free of cyanide. These results show a migration of cyanide from the mine tailings to the surrounding area and these soils are unsuitable for any crop. The produced foods on these polluted soils have total cyanide contents 2 to 5 times higher than their controls. These contaminated matrices reveal negative impacts of the Samira mine's gold activities on its immediate environment. Ingestion of these foods would lead to serious health consequences for local populations.

Published in American Journal of Environmental Protection (Volume 11, Issue 1)
DOI 10.11648/j.ajep.20221101.12
Page(s) 6-13
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Gold Residues, Cyanide Fate, Contaminated Food, Risks Assessment, Samira Gold Mine

References
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    Hassane Adamou Hassane, Abdoulkadri Ayouba Mahamane, Rabani Adamou. (2022). Study of Cyanide Contamination of Market Garden and Agricultural Products Grown Around the Samira Gold Mine (Niger). American Journal of Environmental Protection, 11(1), 6-13. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajep.20221101.12

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    ACS Style

    Hassane Adamou Hassane; Abdoulkadri Ayouba Mahamane; Rabani Adamou. Study of Cyanide Contamination of Market Garden and Agricultural Products Grown Around the Samira Gold Mine (Niger). Am. J. Environ. Prot. 2022, 11(1), 6-13. doi: 10.11648/j.ajep.20221101.12

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    AMA Style

    Hassane Adamou Hassane, Abdoulkadri Ayouba Mahamane, Rabani Adamou. Study of Cyanide Contamination of Market Garden and Agricultural Products Grown Around the Samira Gold Mine (Niger). Am J Environ Prot. 2022;11(1):6-13. doi: 10.11648/j.ajep.20221101.12

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ajep.20221101.12,
      author = {Hassane Adamou Hassane and Abdoulkadri Ayouba Mahamane and Rabani Adamou},
      title = {Study of Cyanide Contamination of Market Garden and Agricultural Products Grown Around the Samira Gold Mine (Niger)},
      journal = {American Journal of Environmental Protection},
      volume = {11},
      number = {1},
      pages = {6-13},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ajep.20221101.12},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajep.20221101.12},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajep.20221101.12},
      abstract = {The term cyanide refers to all the compounds producing the ─C≡N group. It comes from both anthropogenic and natural origins. Its presence in the environment is largely related to gold mining. Cyanide is very scary because of its toxicity causing very deadly environmental consequences. The objective of this work is to study the fate of cyanide and assess its contamination on the environment in the vicinity of a potential source of pollution such as a gold mine. In this study, soils and foods samples from the Samira gold mine and its surroundings in southwestern Niger were collected, analysed and compared with equivalent control samples grown in areas free of any industrial cyanide source. Total cyanide contents in the soils of the Samira site and its surroundings are 2 to 104 times higher than the Canadian standard (0.90 µg g-1 CN-) for agricultural soils, while the control soils are almost free of cyanide. These results show a migration of cyanide from the mine tailings to the surrounding area and these soils are unsuitable for any crop. The produced foods on these polluted soils have total cyanide contents 2 to 5 times higher than their controls. These contaminated matrices reveal negative impacts of the Samira mine's gold activities on its immediate environment. Ingestion of these foods would lead to serious health consequences for local populations.},
     year = {2022}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Study of Cyanide Contamination of Market Garden and Agricultural Products Grown Around the Samira Gold Mine (Niger)
    AU  - Hassane Adamou Hassane
    AU  - Abdoulkadri Ayouba Mahamane
    AU  - Rabani Adamou
    Y1  - 2022/03/15
    PY  - 2022
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajep.20221101.12
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ajep.20221101.12
    T2  - American Journal of Environmental Protection
    JF  - American Journal of Environmental Protection
    JO  - American Journal of Environmental Protection
    SP  - 6
    EP  - 13
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2328-5699
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajep.20221101.12
    AB  - The term cyanide refers to all the compounds producing the ─C≡N group. It comes from both anthropogenic and natural origins. Its presence in the environment is largely related to gold mining. Cyanide is very scary because of its toxicity causing very deadly environmental consequences. The objective of this work is to study the fate of cyanide and assess its contamination on the environment in the vicinity of a potential source of pollution such as a gold mine. In this study, soils and foods samples from the Samira gold mine and its surroundings in southwestern Niger were collected, analysed and compared with equivalent control samples grown in areas free of any industrial cyanide source. Total cyanide contents in the soils of the Samira site and its surroundings are 2 to 104 times higher than the Canadian standard (0.90 µg g-1 CN-) for agricultural soils, while the control soils are almost free of cyanide. These results show a migration of cyanide from the mine tailings to the surrounding area and these soils are unsuitable for any crop. The produced foods on these polluted soils have total cyanide contents 2 to 5 times higher than their controls. These contaminated matrices reveal negative impacts of the Samira mine's gold activities on its immediate environment. Ingestion of these foods would lead to serious health consequences for local populations.
    VL  - 11
    IS  - 1
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Sciences, Abdou Moumouni University, Niamey, Niger

  • Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Sciences, Abdou Moumouni University, Niamey, Niger

  • Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Sciences, Abdou Moumouni University, Niamey, Niger

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