A message for the people of Canada: Support “Bill C-300” and let us live our lives in health and peace!

A message for the people of Canada: Support “Bill C-300” and let us live our lives in health and peace!

By Sergio U. Dani, from Göttingen, Germany, November 30, 2009

If you are a Canadian woman or man, you should know that 2 out of 3 extractive companies operating in the world are based in Canada. The reason for this astonishing concentration of mining, oil and gas companies in Canada can be hinted at in a recent report released by three Canadian gold mining companies [1]: “the international competitiveness of Canadian mining companies working in developing countries in a manner unique to Canada”.

Indeed, many Canadian companies receive taxpayer dollars of Canadian governmental investment. They also receive political and diplomatic support from the Canadian government to operate around the world, and they pretend to operate legally. Truth is, many of these companies operate massive environmental damages, displacement of local people from their homes as well as rapes and even murder. Did you know all that? Have you ever allowed your government and Canadian companies to operate like this, financed by the taxes you pay?

Main ingredients in household dust come from outdoors

Main ingredients in household dust
come from outdoors

Arsenic and other particles tracked indoors can be harmful, researchers warn

By Robert Preidt, HealthDay

WEDNESDAY, Nov. 11, 2009 (HealthDay News) -- Most of the dust that coats your furniture and floors comes from outdoors and can pose a health threat, a new study suggests.

Gold mining liabilities left for taxpayers to pay

Gold mining liabilities left
for taxpayers to pay

The Giant Mine was a large gold mine located on the Ingraham Trail just outside of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada. Mining operations at Giant Mine over five decades (from 1948 to early 2004) created a massive environmental liability, a problem which the mine's previous owners left to the Canadian and Northwest Territories governments to sort out.

Giant Mine arsenic spill raises safety questions

Giant Mine arsenic spill raises safety questions

CBC News, October 2009. A recent arsenic spill at the defunct Giant Mine near Yellowknife is raising concerns about safety and the reporting of spills at mine sites.

Dissolved arsenic in Bangladesh drinking water is from human alteration of landscape

Dissolved arsenic in Bangladesh drinking water is from human alteration of landscape

ScienceDaily (Nov. 16, 2009) — Researchers in MIT's Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering believe they have pinpointed a pathway by which arsenic may be contaminating the drinking water in Bangladesh, a phenomenon that has puzzled scientists, world health agencies and the Bangladeshi government for nearly 30 years. The research suggests that human alteration to the landscape, the construction of villages with ponds, and the adoption of irrigated agriculture are responsible for the current pattern of arsenic concentration underground.

How can Canadian companies operate illegal mining worldwide?

How can Canadian companies operate illegal mining worldwide?

Picture: Mexican people demonstrate against Canadian mining company in Cerro de San Pedro

Sergio Ulhoa Dani, from Göttingen, Germany, November 10, 2009

The people of San Luis Potosí, Mexico, have been fighting an open pit gold mine in Cerro de San Pedro. Last year it became part of a larger company, New Gold Inc. ("New Gold", TSX and NYSE AMEX: NGD), who has been pretending that all is well and legal while continuing to operate illegally, the people of San Luis Potosí say.

The configuration is very similar to that of Paracatu, Brazil, where Canadian Kinross Gold Corporation (NYSE: KGC; TSX: K) operates a true genocide through the release of arsenic from its open cut gold mine located in the outskirts of the city, with the invaluable support of a fistful of government people.

But San Luis Pososí and Paracatu are not isolate cases. Some Canadian companies have been operating corruption and murdering plots worldwide. The Congo affair gained notoriety through the intervention of the UNO Secretary General.

Anthropogenic influences on groundwater arsenic concentrations in Bangladesh

A new article in Nature Geoscience points to the role of human-made ponds in releasing arsenic from Bangladesh's aquifers:

http://www.nature.com/ngeo/journal/vaop/ncurrent/abs/ngeo685.html

Nature Geoscience
Published online: 15 November 2009

Anthropogenic influences on groundwater arsenic concentrations in Bangladesh

Rebecca B. Neumann, Khandaker N. Ashfaque, A. B. M. Badruzzaman, M. Ashraf Ali, Julie K. Shoemaker & Charles F. Harvey

Abstract

The origin of dissolved arsenic in the Ganges Delta has puzzled researchers ever since the report of widespread arsenic poisoning two decades ago. Today, microbially mediated oxidation of organic carbon is thought to drive the geochemical transformations that release arsenic from sediments, but the source of the organic carbon that fuels these processes remains controversial. At a typical site in Bangladesh, where groundwater-irrigated rice fields and constructed ponds are the main sources of groundwater recharge, we combine hydrologic and biogeochemical analyses to trace the origin of contaminated groundwater. Incubation experiments indicate that recharge from ponds contains biologically degradable organic carbon, whereas recharge from rice fields contains mainly recalcitrant organic carbon. Chemical and isotopic indicators as well as groundwater simulations suggest that recharge from ponds carries this degradable organic carbon into the shallow aquifer, and that groundwater flow, drawn by irrigation pumping, transports pond water to the depth where dissolved arsenic concentrations are greatest. Results also indicate that arsenic concentrations are low in groundwater originating from rice fields. Furthermore, solute composition in arsenic-contaminated water is consistent with that predicted using geochemical models of pond-water–aquifer-sediment interactions. We therefore suggest that the construction of ponds has influenced aquifer biogeochemistry, and that patterns of arsenic contamination in the shallow aquifer result from variations in the source of water, and the complex three-dimensional patterns of groundwater flow.

Metallomics opening new frontiers for brain research in Germany

Metallomics opening new frontiers for brain research in Germany

Sergio U. Dani, Germany, Tuesday 3, November, 2009.

BrainMet, a new lab dedicated to the bioimaging of metals in brain and metallomics is scheduled for opening on December 9 this year. The new lab has been set up at the Central Division for Chemical Analyses of the Research Centre Jülich, in Jülich, Germany.

BrainMet is led by Dr. J. Sabine Becker, a worldwide renowned pioneer and expert in the field of mass spectroscopy. Becker and her group are credited with creating and developing a novel elemental analytical LA-ICP-MS technique using the near field effect with spatial resolution at the nanometer scale.

“Since trace elements are involved in a number of metabolic and physiological processes in the human body, and their deficiency and excess may lead to different metabolic disorders, much attention is paid with respect to the spatial distribution and the local concentration of trace elements in tissues”, says Becker.

BrainMet will be opened with a colloquium. For more information and registration to the BrainMet Colloquium, contact Mrs. A. Wiebecke at:

Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH
Zentralabteilung für Chemische Analysen (ZCH)
52425 Jülich
Tel.: [++49] (2461) 61-4263
Telefax: [++49] (2461) 61-2560
E-mail: a.wiebecke@fz-juelich.de

MIMER Notes, November 9, 2009

Medawar Institute for Medical and Environmental Research (MIMER)

Acute and chronic toxicities of arsenic in selected mammals including man: some notes on doses and vulnerabilities

By Sergio Ulhoa Dani, November 9, 2009.

Acute mortality

Different mammal species have different susceptibilities to arsenic acute toxicity, as assessed by LD50 and LC50 [1-12]. The LD50 defines the oral lethal dose that will kill 50% of the tested animals that eat the substance; and the LC50 defines the inhaled lethal concentration that will kill 50% of the tested animals breathing the substance.

A sequence of increased arsenic vulnerability as assessed by LD50 (LC50 for cat) is as follows: mouse (Ca or Pb arsenate p.o., 145-794 mg/kg) < rat (Ca or Pb arsenate p.o., 20-763 mg/g) < cat (AsCl3 gas, 100-200 mg/m3) < rabbit (Ca or Pb arsenate p.o., 50-75 mg/kg) < dog (Ca or Pb arsenate p.o., 38 mg/kg) < human (arsenate p.o., 1 mg/kg).

The vulnerability sequence as derived LC50 values (30 min exposure time) would be as follows [13]: mouse (73-209 mg As/m3) < rat (5.3-534 mg As/m3) < rabbit (8.8-13 mg As/m3) < dog (10 mg As/m3) < cat (5.2-7.8 mg As/m3) < human (estimated 5 mg As/m3).

Chronic morbidity and mortality

Global hazards of gold, coal and oil

Global hazards of gold, coal and oil

Present day anthropogenic arsenic emissions from gold, coal and oil
mining already surpass natural emissions from volcanic sources which
were linked to the extinction of dinosaurs in geological time. “This
is a change of paradigm of catastrophic proportions”, says Sergio
Dani, author of "Gold, coal and oil" on his article published in
Medical Hypotheses.

Arsenic ranks first in national and international lists of hazardous
substances. Colourless, odourless and tasteless arsenic has been
traditionally referred to and used as "the king of poisons". One tenth
of a gram is enough to kill an adult man within a few hours. Much
lesser quantities – something as the millionth part of a gram being
chronically inhaled or ingested over months or years – can cause
various types of cancer, vascular and renal diseases, neurological
diseases and diabetes among other diseases.

Source: Medawar Institute for Medical and Environmental
Research/Acangaú Foundation, October 2009.
Find out more about this story at:
www.alertaparacatu.blogspot.com
www.sosarsenic.blogspot.com

--
Sergio Ulhoa Dani, Dr.med., D.Sc. habil.
Göttingen, Germany
Tel. 00(XX)49 15-226-453-423
srgdani@gmail.com

Gold, Coal and Oil

Gold, Coal and Oil

Neither the Three Wise Men's “Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh” nor Jared
Diamond´s “Guns, Germs and Steel”. "Gold, Coal and Oil" determine
mankind’s fate in a much more important and insidious way: the release
of arsenic, an invisible poison. This is the conclusion of an in-depth
study published in Europe by the journal Medical Hypotheses.

Source: Medawar Institute for Medical and Environmental
Research/Acangaú Foundation, October 2009.
Find out more about this story at:
www.alertaparacatu.blogspot.com
www.sosarsenic.blogspot.com

--
Sergio Ulhoa Dani, Dr.med., D.Sc. habil.
Göttingen, Germany
Tel. 00(XX)49 15-226-453-423
srgdani@gmail.com

Gold, coal and oil: regulatory crisis of sizeable magnitude

Gold, coal and oil: regulatory crisis of sizeable magnitude

Whereas maximum allowed concentrations of arsenic in soils of some
countries such as Canada and Germany range from 5-50 milligrams/kg, in
some places of the world where soils have been contaminated by allowed
gold mining operations – e.g., Paracatu and Nova Lima, Brazil – or by
irrigation with arsenic-contaminated water – e.g. Bangladesh and West
Bengal – soil arsenic concentrations reach several grams/kg, that is,
thousand times the internationally maximal allowed concentrations.

Kinross Gold Corporation: a history of bad management, facilitated corruption and mass murder.

By Sergio Ulhoa Dani, from Göttingen, Germany, Tuesday 3, November 2009 

Canadian Kinross Gold Corporation (NYSE:KGC; TSX: K) has reported its third quarter 2009 results [1,2]. There was a net loss of US$21.5 million or US$0.03 per share, compared to net income of US$64.7 million or US$0.10 per share in the same quarter last year. The culprits are the “challenges at our Paracatu expansion project”, said Kinross CEO Tye Burt. To overcome these hurdles, Kinross has been diligently working to “facilitate” its business down the equator. Instead of cutting in its own flesh and fat, it is cutting in the health and lives of thousands of people in Paracatu, a 90,000 inhabitants city in the State of Minas Gerais, Brazil.

Kinross Gold Slips To Loss In Q3 - Quick Facts

Kinross Gold Slips To Loss In Q3 - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - Kinross Gold Corp. (KGC: News ,K.TO: News ) reported that
its third-quarter net loss was US$21.5 million or US$0.03 per share,
compared to net income of US$64.7 million or US$0.10 per share in the
same quarter last year.

Adjusted net earnings were US$1.7 million or breakeven per share,
compared to US$83.4 million or US$0.13 per share for the same period
last year.

Canadian Kinross Gold Corporation operates corruption plots and a true genocide in Brazil

Canadian Kinross Gold Corporation operates corruption plots and a true genocide in Brazil

By Sergio Ulhoa Dani, from Göttingen, Germany, October 31, 2009

Kinross mining rights in Paracatu, a 90,000 inhabitants town in Brazil
were bought during the years 2003-2006 from Rio Tinto, one of the
biggest in the mining sector, for US$280 million – “a bargain” in the
words of Brazilian geologist Eupidio Reis. He was surprised by such a
low amount paid for the Brazilian biggest gold reserve, some 16
million ounces, standing for more than 60% of total Kinross’ proven
gold reserves. Eupidio Reis did not understand why the Paracatu mine,
valued at over US$10 billion at that time, could have been sold so
cheap.