Metal Mining and Health Effects of Indigenous People

Question 1

Lake Superior region, Ontario

Answer 1

• Indigenous people arrived in this area about 10k ya
• They dug 1000s of Cu quarry pits. Cu tools from Lake Superior have been identified as faraway as Florida and Mexico

Question 2

Trade Partners

Answer 2

• Used repeated steps of pounding, heating, and crafting to create jewelry, tools, and weapons
• Artifacts of silver, gold, alloys, and arsenic bronze have been found in or near ancient mounds of the Eastern USA

Question 3

When Cu-bearing rocks are exposed at the surface, conifer trees can

Answer 3

concentrate Cu in their tissues (up to 700ppm) above background soil (70ppm)

Question 4

Fish and wild rice are 2 food staples for First Nations people

Answer 4

• Wild rice in the Lake Superior area naturally concentrate Cu in its seeds (5.3ppm), stems (1.4ppm), and roots (4.8ppm)
• Studies have shown elevated Cu in fish, mollusks, and worms from Lake Superior. The LC50 ([lethal for 50% of test group) for fish is >1mg/L. Cu overload interferes with fish gill function

Question 5

Could Cu accumulations reach concentrations that are toxic to humans?

Answer 5

• Adult humans normally have 1.4-2.1mg Cu/kg of body weight (1mg/kg = ppm)
• Max contaminant lvl for Cu in drinking water is 1.3mcg/L
• US EPA lists Cu as a micronutrient and a toxin

Question 6

Toxicity in Mammals

Answer 6

• Liver cirrhosis
• Necrosis in kidneys and brain
• Gastrointestinal distress
• Lesions
• Low B.P
• Fetal mortality

Question 7

Excess CU is normally excreted from the body

Answer 7

• Expulsion via cellular Cu pumping
• Binding Cu to -SH groups

Question 8

However, many of the substances that protect us from excess Cu also perform

Answer 8

important functions in neurological and endocrine systems = binding of Cu prevents its other functions

Question 9

Symptoms of Cu toxicity:

Answer 9

• Mood swings
• Irritability
• Depression
• Fatigue
• Excitation
• Difficulty focusing
• Feeling out of control

Question 10

Pathways for Cu entry into the body

Answer 10

• Eating acidic foods cooked in uncoated Cu cookware
• Exposure to excess Cu in drinking water or food

Question 11

Indian Childhood Cirrhosis

Answer 11

• 1 possible manifestation of Cu toxicity = chronic cirrhosis of liver in children has been linked to boiling milk in Cu cookware in Ontario-Quebec
• Cu and Zn accumulation suggested to be involved in pathogenesis of cirrhosis in 3 Cree children from Ontario

Question 12

Genetic Cause for Indian Childhood Cirrhosis?

Answer 12

• Other studies suggest a mutation with autosomal recessive inheritance and rule out Cu toxicity
• Carrier rate of Indian Childhood Cirrhosis is ~10% in Ojibway and Cree ppl in NW Quebec

Question 13

Uranium Poisoning in the Navajo Nation, US

Answer 13

• 1944-1986, mining companies blasted mils of tons of U out of Navajo land
• Federal govt purchased ore to make atomic weapons. As the Cold War threat weakened, the companies left, abandoning 521 mines
• Since then, many Navajo ppl have died of kidney failure and cancer, conditions leaked to U contamination
• Mining companies hired many Navajo mine workers, ignoring known health risks and failed to inform the workers about the dangers
• Studies show that the Navajo mine workers and numerous families on the reservation have suffered high rates of lung cancers and other diseases, from environmental contamination
• Govt failed to regulate or improve conditions, or inform workers of the dangers
• As high rates of illness began to occur, workers were often unsuccessful in court for compensation
• The US did not officially recognize radon illness until 1990 Radiation Exposure Compensation Act to settle these cases and provide needed compensation

Question 14

Tailings pond breach at Church Rock Uranium Mill, 1979 (New Mexico)

Answer 14

> 1k tons of radioactive mill waste
- 93mil gallons of acidic radioactive solns
- Flowed into the nearby Puerco River
- Contaminated drinking water supply on part of Navajo nation
- Largest radioactive accident in US history

Question 15

State response to Church Rock disaster

Answer 15

• English-only notification of largely Navajo pop affected by spill
• Local residents did not learn immediately of toxic danger, were accustomed to using riverside for recreation
• Residents who waded in the acidic water went to hospital with burning feet and were misdiagnosed with heat stroke
• Navajo nation asked for disaster assistance and to have site declared as disaster area, but were refused = limited amount of disaster relief they received

Question 16

Cleanup Efforts

Answer 16

• Over last decade, fed govt has assessed the 100s of abandoned mines and prioritized 46 based on high radiation lvls and close prox to homes
• US govt accountability office est that mils of gallons of water contaminated by mine tailings were released into groundwater
• 9 of the mines have been cleaned up by US Environmental Protection Agency so far