tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-56463382358985925032024-03-13T17:36:35.030+01:00sos arsenicThis blog is published and maintained by Public Prosecutor P. M.Serrano Neves (pmsneves@gmail.com, Brazil) with the assistance of Acangau Foundation’s personnel and volunteers and contributors from all over the world. We strongly encourage participation and public debate.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger241125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5646338235898592503.post-83292644047832403742019-07-15T20:39:00.005+02:002019-07-15T20:39:38.470+02:00Fundação Acangau inaugura site<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Confira: <span style="color: lime;"><a href="http://www.acangau.org/">www.acangau.org</a></span></span></span>L.D. Dr.med. D.Sc. Sergio Ulhoa Danihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12192660812752559774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5646338235898592503.post-90859052444452059782019-07-15T20:38:00.004+02:002019-07-15T20:38:33.552+02:00Revista americana publica estudo sobre efeitos graves da mineração de ouro em Paracatu<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="PT" style="font-size: 10pt;">Artigo publicado online em 27 de março de 2019,
pela revista especializada “Environmental Justice”: </span><a href="https://doi.org/10.1089/env.2018.0039"><span lang="PT" style="font-size: 10pt;">https://doi.org/10.1089/env.2018.0039</span></a><span lang="PT" style="font-size: 10pt;"></span>
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="PT" style="font-size: 10pt;">Geocídio,
ecocídio e efeitos tipo genocídio da mineração de ouro a céu aberto de topo de
montanha em larga escala na periferia de Paracatu, Brasil.</span></b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="PT" style="font-size: 10pt;">Sergio Ulhoa Dani, Claudio Renato Genaro Malavolta,
Marcio José dos Santos, Paulo Maurício Serrano Neves (†) e Laure Terrier</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="PT" style="font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="PT" style="font-size: 10pt;">(†) Im Memoriam</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="PT" style="font-size: 10pt;">Tradução do resumo
do artigo:</span></b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="PT" style="font-size: 10pt;">Em 1987, iniciou-se a mineração de ouro em larga
escala a céu aberto, nos subúrbios da cidade de Paracatu, Minas Gerais, Brasil.
As rochas duras da mina contêm minério com baixa concentração de ouro (média 0,4
g de ouro / tonelada de minério) e quantidades anormalmente elevadas de arsenopirita
(FeAsS, média 1000 g/t de minério). Desde 2005, a mina tem sido operada
exclusivamente pela canadense Kinross Gold Corporation (KGC-NYSE, K-TSX)
através de sua subsidiária local. As atividades de mineração mal controladas
liberam arsenopirita e seus produtos de intemperismo das rochas nas formas de
partículas, gás e solutos que contaminam o ar, solos, águas superficiais e
águas subterrâneas. Até 2016, o rendimento acumulado de arsênio inorgânico da
mina foi estimado em 735.000 toneladas. Neste artigo, apresentamos a primeira
série de casos sentinelas de intoxicação crônica por arsênio (CAsI) em
Paracatu. Apesar das evidências crescentes de degradação ambiental
generalizada, contaminação ambiental em grande escala, intoxicação em massa crônica
e persistente e abuso dos direitos humanos, uma série de ações judiciais,
públicas e privadas não conseguiu interromper as atividades da Kinross em
Paracatu. O contínuo desastre ambiental e humanitário e os abusos ilegais em
Paracatu que degradam o meio ambiente e vitimizam milhares de pessoas prosperam
incontestes e não podem ser interrompidos localmente devido à conivência dos agentes
com grandes interesses econômicos, poderosas interferências políticas,
pagamentos facilitadores, cegueira deliberada e “lavagem-verde” toxicológica </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;">
<br /></div>
<style>
<!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:"Courier New";
panose-1:2 7 3 9 2 2 5 2 4 4;
mso-font-charset:0;
mso-generic-font-family:roman;
mso-font-pitch:fixed;
mso-font-signature:-536859905 -1073711037 9 0 511 0;}
@font-face
{font-family:"Cambria Math";
panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;
mso-font-charset:0;
mso-generic-font-family:roman;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:-536870145 1107305727 0 0 415 0;}
@font-face
{font-family:Calibri;
panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;
mso-font-charset:0;
mso-generic-font-family:swiss;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:-536870145 1073786111 1 0 415 0;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{mso-style-unhide:no;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
margin:0cm;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;
mso-fareast-language:EN-US;}
a:link, span.MsoHyperlink
{mso-style-priority:99;
color:#0563C1;
mso-themecolor:hyperlink;
text-decoration:underline;
text-underline:single;}
a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed
{mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
color:#954F72;
mso-themecolor:followedhyperlink;
text-decoration:underline;
text-underline:single;}
.MsoChpDefault
{mso-style-type:export-only;
mso-default-props:yes;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;
mso-fareast-language:EN-US;}
@page WordSection1
{size:612.0pt 792.0pt;
margin:70.85pt 70.85pt 2.0cm 70.85pt;
mso-header-margin:36.0pt;
mso-footer-margin:36.0pt;
mso-paper-source:0;}
div.WordSection1
{page:WordSection1;}
-->
</style>L.D. Dr.med. D.Sc. Sergio Ulhoa Danihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12192660812752559774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5646338235898592503.post-30850861268341168902018-06-13T22:40:00.001+02:002018-06-13T22:40:07.486+02:00All that glitters is not gold<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Swiss TV documentary on chronic arsenic intoxication of the inhabitants of Paracatu by Canadian Kinross Gold Corporation in Brazil, and the fight of a medical doctor against it. This Sunday 17. June 2018 on <a href="https://m.srf.ch/sendungen/reporter/es-ist-nicht-alles-gold">https://m.srf.ch/sendungen/reporter/es-ist-nicht-alles-gold</a></span>L.D. Dr.med. D.Sc. Sergio Ulhoa Danihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12192660812752559774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5646338235898592503.post-7838198078630509352017-09-25T00:17:00.001+02:002017-09-25T00:17:11.073+02:00Chronic arsenic intoxication now more visible<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28857213</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Chichester, USA, 31.08.2017 - A new method of diagnosis of chronic arsenic intoxication was published today by JAT (Journal of Applied Toxicology) [1].</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The authors of the new method, called CAsIDS (abbreviation for "Chronic Arsenic Intoxication Diagnostic Score") are the Brazilian MD working in Switzerland, Sergio Ulhoa Dani and his Austrian colleague, Gerhard Franz Walter.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The method is based on non-invasively </span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">estimating the </span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">bone arsenic load from the arsenic concentration in two consecutive urine samples and includes the evaluation of clinical manifestations typical of chronic arsenic intoxication in various systems and organs of the human body.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Acute arsenic poisoning, although rare these days, is easily recognized for its symptoms such as mental confusion, diarrhea, respiratory and circulatory collapse followed by death within a few hours or days.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Chronic intoxication, although more frequent than acute poisoning, is difficult to recognize because its clinical and laboratory manifestations can be mistaken with those of other diseases that kill after years or decades.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The CasiDS method helps doctors recognize chronic poisoning at different levels of certainty.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the journal JAT, the authors present clinical examples of chronic arsenic poisoning confirmed by CAsIDS.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Among the cases presented, there is a patient from the city of Paracatu, Minas Gerais, where the Canadian Kinross Gold Corporation / Kinross Brasil Mineração explores the largest open pit gold mine in Brazil.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The arsenic released from the rocks of the mine in Paracatu is transported by water and air and contaminates the rural and urban environment and thousands of its inhabitants.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Arsenic and its compounds are generally invisible, odorless and tasteless. With CAsIDS, at least the arsenic that contaminates the human body and causes disease became more visible.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Reference:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">[1] Dani SU, Walter GF. Chronic arsenic intoxication diagnostic score (CAsIDS). J Appl Toxicol. 2017; 1-23. https://doi.org/10.1002/jat.3512</span>L.D. Dr.med. D.Sc. Sergio Ulhoa Danihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12192660812752559774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5646338235898592503.post-28189581036680437312017-05-07T03:35:00.004+02:002017-05-07T03:35:57.437+02:00Número real de mortes pela inalação de arsênio da mineração está oculto, dizem cientistas americanos<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Keil e Richardson, dois cientistas do Departamento de Epidemiologia da Universidade da Carolina do Norte, USA, reavaliaram a ligação entre a inalação de arsênio por trabalhadores da mineração contratados entre 1938 e 1955 nos Estados Unidos, e múltiplas causas de morte até o ano de 1990. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Eles estimaram que a eliminação da exposição ao arsênio no ambiente de trabalho poderia ter evitado 22 mortes à idade de 70 anos por cada 1.000 trabalhadores. Dessas 22 mortes, eles estimaram que 7 seriam devidas às doenças do coração, 4 devidas a cânceres do trato respiratório, e 11 devidas a outras causas. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Isso significa que uma mineração que expõs 3 mil funcionários diretos e indiretos ao arsênio pode ter causado a morte de 66 pessoas </span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">nos Estados Unidos, onde geralmente os controles são mais rígidos que em outros países</span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Os autores do estudo também mostraram que a sobrevivência dos trabalhadores saudáveis pode ter mascarado essas associações em análises feitas anteriormente. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Os resultados enfatizam a necessidade de considerar todas as rotas de exposição ao arsênio nos estudos de avaliação de risco.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Referência:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Keil AP, Richardson DB. 2017. Reassessing the link between airborne arsenic exposure among anaconda copper smelter workers and multiple causes of death using the parametric g-formula. Environ Health Perspect. 125:608-614.</span>L.D. Dr.med. D.Sc. Sergio Ulhoa Danihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12192660812752559774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5646338235898592503.post-13943422667070415092017-04-19T16:47:00.001+02:002017-04-19T16:47:10.397+02:00L'or à tout prix<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Paris, 12 de abril de 2017</span><br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxWd5V6calc" style="font-family: "helvetica neue", arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxWd5V6calc</a><br />
<br />
<img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigTw8Auf4LU20oSy6U0_8ndYvPrrUzMxuIZs_vmKwfyc1oMZQNqtHJw3mcJRhsx7HyiWsyel9UGVdrv0qKxNOafubm4ITEZY6Wwuu4MHOSwKBhRDPL8LEZXKSkOOfMyY2BKjKHPr4tfX1z/s400/Business+toxique+in+Paracatu.jpg" /><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.francetvpro.fr/france-o/programmes/2188467">http://www.francetvpro.fr/france-o/programmes/2188467</a></span><br />
<div>
<b><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Francetv pro Ô</span></b></div>
<b><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">TEMPS FORT SEMAINE 15</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">INVESTIGATIÔNS — « LA SOIF DE L'OR »</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">L'OR À TOUT PRIX</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Magazine d’investigation Inédit Mercredi 12 avril 2017 à 20.55 </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Cette semaine, Investigatiôns enquête à Paracatu, au Brésil, sur la plus vaste mine d’or à ciel ouvert au monde ! Cette mine de 110 km² ressemble à un monstre énorme qui dévore chaque jour un peu plus la ville et ses habitants touchés par de nombreuses pathologies.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Paracatu est une ville brésilienne de 84 000 habitants située dans l'État du Minas Gerais. Elle est surnommée « la cité de l’or », mais devrait plutôt être appelée « la cité de l’arsenic ». Le nombre de cas de cancers et d’autres maladies graves y croît anormalement. Les pathologies répertoriées sont graves : cancers de toutes sortes, graves affections neurologiques accompagnées de paralysie, syndrome de Guillain-Barré, troubles auditifs, baisse de l’acuité visuelle...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">L'origine du mal ? L’arsenic libéré dans l’air et dans l’eau par la plus grande mine d’or à ciel ouvert du monde.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">La mine est la propriété du groupe canadien Kinross Gold Corporation. C’est la principale source de revenus et d’emplois de toute la région. Mais, depuis 1987, la population locale est exposée à une intoxication massive, même si la compagnie minière comme les autorités politiques et judiciaires, sous influence, la nient. « Attitude irresponsable », selon José Marcio dos Santos, un géologue à la retraite, et l'oncologue Sergio Ulhoa Dani, qui ont démontré la réalité et la gravité de l’intoxication. D’autres lanceurs d’alerte ont été menacés de mort et ont dû s’exiler après s’être exprimés à haute voix. C’est le cas de Rafaela Xavier, une ex-employée municipale. Les malades de Paracatu, eux, réclament aide et justice, mais personne ne les entend.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">En Afrique, en Amérique du Nord et du Sud, rien n'a pu arrêter les compagnies minières dans leur soif d’or, d’argent et de platine.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">À Paracatu, l’activité minière a commencé il y a trente ans, mais aucune enquête épidémiologique indépendante n'a encore été menée ; aucun procès instruit non plus, en dépit de plusieurs plaintes pour empoisonnement.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">La mine est en activité jusqu'en 2036... La contamination n'est pas prête de s'arrêter. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><a href="http://www.programme-tv.net/programme/culture-infos/r39064-investigations/9628979-investigations/#.WPBZjhQdsZg.facebook"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">http://www.programme-tv.net/programme/culture-infos/r39064-investigations/9628979-investigations/#.WPBZjhQdsZg.facebook</span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><b><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Investigatiôns</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Au sommaire : "L'or à tout prix" Un documentaire français réalisé par Zinedine Boudaoud en 2017. La plus grande mine d'or à ciel ouvert du monde se trouve près de la ville de Paracatu, dans l'Etat du Minas Gerais, au Brésil. Son exploration génère des emplois et des ressources pour la région, Mais elle inquiète sérieusement les habitants de Paracatu, intoxiqués par les métaux lourds libérés dans l'air. "L'or, une guerre sale" Un documentaire helvético-français réalisé par Daniel Schweizer en 2014. Des exploitations minières d'Amérique du Sud aux enseignes de luxe genevoises, enquête sur les dérives du marché de l'or et ses alternatives «vertes».</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><b><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Le Figaro - Informations</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Genre : Documentaire - Santé Année : 2017</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Résumé de <b>L'or à tout prix</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Paracatu est une ville brésilienne de 84 000 habitants située dans l'État du Minas Gerais, au Brésil. Elle est surnommée «la Cité de l'or», mais devrait plutôt être appelée «la Cité de l'arsenic». Le nombre de cas de cancers et d'autres maladies graves y croît anormalement. Les pathologies répertoriées sont graves : cancers de toutes sortes, graves affections neurologiques accompagnées de paralysie, syndrome de Guillain-Barré, troubles auditifs, baisse de l'acuité visuelle. L'origine du mal ? L'arsenic libéré dans l'air et dans l'eau par la plus grande mine d'or à ciel ouvert du monde.</span>L.D. Dr.med. D.Sc. Sergio Ulhoa Danihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12192660812752559774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5646338235898592503.post-24315809453827862122017-04-12T17:09:00.004+02:002017-04-12T17:10:25.643+02:00Método SORAS para purificação de água contaminada pelo arsênio<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Como é público e notório, e está comprovado em diversos estudos científicos, a mineração de ouro em rocha arsenopirita conduzida pela Kinross em Paracatu está contaminando o ar, os solos e as águas com arsênio inorgânico altamente tóxico e danoso para a sua saúde.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Enquanto uma solução judicial para o problema não é encontrada, é preciso tomar alguns cuidados para minimizar a exposição ao arsênio. Obviamente, a maioria das pessoas que moram em Paracatu não podem se mudar da cidade, e continuam sujeitas a respirar o veneno, dia e noite.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Algumas pessoas, como os habitantes do Vale do Ribeirão Santa Rita, encontram-se forçadas a consumir água do subsolo que já está gravemente contaminada pela atividade minerária da Kinross, conforme mostramos ano passado [1].</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">É possível que pessoas vivendo em outras regiões também sejam afetadas, pela influência das barragens de rejeitos da Kinross [2].</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">De qualquer modo, a água sob influência da mineração não está própria para consumo. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Se você mora na região impactada pela mineração, ou se usa água de poço contaminada pelo arsênio, recomendamos que você trate a água de beber da seguinte forma (método SORAS-"Solar Oxidation and Removal of Arsenic", desenvolvido pelo suíços Stephan Hug e Martin Wegelin, do Instituto Federal Suíço para Ciência e Tecnolgia Ambiental (EAWAG) [3]:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">- encha uma garrafa PET transparente com 1 litro da água contaminada pelo arsênio;</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">- pingue algumas gotas de ácido cítrico (você deve achar no supermercado, pois ele é usado para a preparação de refrescos e doces). Se não encontrar, use 4 a 8 gotas de suco de limão mesmo;</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">- deixe a garrafa PET deitada ao sol, durante o dia todo; dentro de algumas horas, a parte ultravioleta da luz do sol, na presença do ácido cítrico e de hidróxido de ferro presente na água acelera a oxidação do arsênio (III) para arsênio (V), que se liga mais fortemente ao ferro dissolvido, formando um precipitado; </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">- à noitinha, coloque a garrafa de pé e deixe-a quieta até o dia seguinte. Se o método de purificação funcionou, você verá o precipitado (uma "laminha") no fundo da garrafa. Despeje a água tratada num filtro de barro normal ou num recipiente limpo, tomando o cuidado de não agitar o precipitado. Jogue fora o precipitado contendo arsênio e ferro.</span><br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Referências:</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">[1] Santos MJ, Dani SU. 2016. Arsenic contamination of the environment and the human compartment by gold mining in Paracatu, MG, Brazil. Congresso da Sociedade de Análise de Risco Latino Americana, IPT, São Paulo, Brasil – 10-13 Mai, 2016.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">[2] Conheça </span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">a</span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> hipótese da contaminação das águas subterrâneas de Paracatu: http://alertaparacatu.blogspot.ch/2009/12/hipotese-de-contaminacao-das-aguas-de.html.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">[3] Hug SJ, Canonica L, Wegelin M, Gechter D, Von Gunten U. Solar oxidation and removal of arsenic at circumneutral pH in iron containing waters. Environ Sci Technol. 2001 May 15;35(10):2114-21.</span>L.D. Dr.med. D.Sc. Sergio Ulhoa Danihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12192660812752559774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5646338235898592503.post-27262136963682909702017-03-31T13:46:00.004+02:002017-03-31T13:47:31.145+02:00El Salvador, Prizing Water Over Gold, Bans All Metal Mining<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/29/world/americas/el-salvador-prizing-water-over-gold-bans-all-metal-mining.html?_r=0">https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/29/world/americas/el-salvador-prizing-water-over-gold-bans-all-metal-mining.html?_r=0</a><br />
<div class="story-meta-footer" id="story-meta-footer">
<div class="byline-dateline">
<span class="byline" itemprop="author creator" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person"><br /></span></div>
<div class="byline-dateline">
<span class="byline" itemprop="author creator" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person">By <span class="byline-author" data-byline-name="GENE PALUMBO" itemprop="name">GENE PALUMBO</span> and </span><span class="byline" itemprop="author creator" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person"><span class="byline-author" data-byline-name="ELISABETH MALKIN" data-twitter-handle="ElisabethMalkin" itemprop="name">ELISABETH MALKIN</span></span><time class="dateline" content="2017-03-30T18:56:17-04:00" datetime="2017-03-30T18:56:17-04:00" itemprop="dateModified">MARCH 29, 2017</time><br />
<time class="dateline" content="2017-03-30T18:56:17-04:00" datetime="2017-03-30T18:56:17-04:00" itemprop="dateModified"></time> </div>
<div class="story-meta-footer-sharetools">
<br /></div>
<div class="story-meta-footer-sharetools">
SAN SALVADOR — Lawmakers in <a class="meta-loc" href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/elsalvador/index.html?inline=nyt-geo" title="More news and information about El Salvador.">El Salvador</a> voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday to prohibit all mining for gold and other metals, making the country the first in the world to impose a nationwide ban on metal mining, environmental activists said.</div>
</div>
<div class="story-body-supplemental">
<div class="story-body story-body-1">
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="235" data-total-count="476">
<br /></div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="235" data-total-count="476">
<br /><br />
Declaring that El Salvador’s fragile environment could not sustain metal mining operations, legislators across the political spectrum approved the ban, which had broad support, particularly from the influential Roman Catholic Church.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="94" data-total-count="570">
<br /></div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="94" data-total-count="570">
<br /><br />
Supporters said the law was needed to protect the country’s dwindling <a href="https://www.oxfamamerica.org/press/members-of-congress-urge-el-salvador-to-protect-environment-and-communities-from-mining/">supply of clean water</a>.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="137" data-total-count="707">
“Today in El Salvador, water won out over gold,” <a href="https://twitter.com/johnnywsol?lang=en">Johnny Wright Sol</a>, a legislator from the center-right Arena party, wrote on Twitter.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="205" data-total-count="912">
<br /></div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="205" data-total-count="912">
<br /><br />
The vote in the Legislative Assembly turned a decade-old moratorium on mining into law, halting efforts by international companies to tap the gold belt running across the northern provinces of El Salvador.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="220" data-total-count="1132">
<br /></div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="220" data-total-count="1132">
<br /><br />
“It’s a wonderful moment for the first country to evaluate the costs and benefits of metallic mining and say no,” said Andrés McKinley, a mining and water specialist at Central American University in San Salvador.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="97" data-total-count="1229" id="story-continues-1">
<br /></div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="97" data-total-count="1229">
<br /><br />
The law does not apply to quarrying or the mining of coal, salt and other nonmetallic substances.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="253" data-total-count="1482">
Other countries are unlikely to follow El Salvador’s national ban, mining watchdog groups say. But the law sets a powerful example to communities that oppose large mining projects and bolsters the case against mining in environmentally delicate areas.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="291" data-total-count="1773">
<br /></div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="291" data-total-count="1773">
<br /><br />
“Globally there is a growing questioning of mining as an economic development engine,” said Keith Slack, the global program director for extractive industries at Oxfam America in Washington. “I think it definitely strengthens the voice of communities that are raising the questions.”</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="278" data-total-count="2051">
<br /></div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="278" data-total-count="2051">
<br /><br />
Around the world, scattered bans on the use of cyanide to extract gold from low-grade ore, commonly used in open-pit mining, are in place, including in Montana, according to <a href="http://miningwatch.ca/users/jamie">Jamie Kneen</a>, a spokesman for Mining Watch Canada. Costa Rica has a national ban on open-pit gold mining.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="193" data-total-count="2244" id="story-continues-2">
<br /><br />
Germany, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Turkey and several Argentine provinces have cyanide bans. In the Philippines, the government <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-03-07/the-mining-crisis-in-world-s-top-nickel-shipper-quicktake-q-a">ordered</a> more than half the mines to shut down or be suspended.</div>
<div class="newsletter-signup auto-newsletter" data-newsletter-productcode="" data-newsletter-producttitle="" id="newsletter-promo">
<!-- close footer -->
</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="220" data-total-count="2464">
The risks of mining in El Salvador, however, are especially acute. The tiny country is densely populated and the second-most environmentally degraded country in the Americas, after Haiti, according to the United Nations.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="227" data-total-count="2691">
<br /></div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="227" data-total-count="2691">
<br /><br />
“Mining is an industry whose primary and first victim is water,” said Mr. McKinley, who added that El Salvador faced a significant scarcity. “We are talking about an issue that is a life-or-death issue for the country.”</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="303" data-total-count="2994" id="story-continues-3">
<br /></div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="303" data-total-count="2994">
<br /><br />
Mr. Wright, the legislator who worked to persuade his business-friendly party to support the law, said that climate change was already having an impact on El Salvador. “More than a theory or an uncertain science that it might have been 10 years ago, today for Salvadorans, it is a reality,” he said.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="268" data-total-count="3262">
<br /></div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="268" data-total-count="3262">
<br /><br />
Unlike mining in neighboring Central American countries, mining in El Salvador has been limited to small-scale operations. The civil war of the 1980s deterred efforts to develop large-scale mines. International mining companies did not begin exploring until the 2000s.</div>
<div class="story-ad ad ad-placeholder nocontent robots-nocontent ad-aggro-4 ad-aggro-8 aggro-only hidden" id="story-ad--aggro-8">
<div class="accessibility-ad-header visually-hidden">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="278" data-total-count="3540" id="story-continues-4">
<br /><br />
Opposition to one of those companies eventually grew into a social movement against mining. The company, Pac Rim Cayman, sought a license to open a mine in the impoverished northern province of Cabañas but was rejected in 2005 because it had not met all the legal requirements.</div>
<div class="story-ad ad ad-placeholder nocontent robots-nocontent hidden" id="story-ad-2">
<div class="accessibility-ad-header visually-hidden">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="107" data-total-count="3647" id="story-continues-5">
<br /><br />
As opposition mounted, clashes around the proposed mine led to the deaths of several anti-mining activists.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="199" data-total-count="3846">
<br /></div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="199" data-total-count="3846">
<br /><br />
The de facto moratorium on permits that began under a government led by the Arena Party continued under the two successive governments led by the left-wing Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front.</div>
<div class="accessibility-ad-header visually-hidden">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="story-body story-body-1">
<div class="story-ad ad ad-placeholder nocontent robots-nocontent ad-aggro-10 aggro-only hidden">
</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-node-uid="1" data-para-count="249" data-total-count="4095" id="story-continues-6">
<br /><br />
Last October, El Salvador <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/15/world/americas/salvador-mining-dispute.html">won an international dispute</a> that had been filed by Pac Rim and continued by the Canadian-Australian company, OceanaGold, that acquired it. An international arbitration panel rejected OceanaGold’s claims for compensation.</div>
<footer class="story-footer story-content"> <div class="story-meta">
<div class="story-notes">
<i><br /></i><br />
<i>Follow Elisabeth Malkin on Twitter </i><a href="https://twitter.com/ElisabethMalkin"><i>@ElisabethMalkin</i></a><i>.</i><br />
Gene Palumbo reported from San Salvador, and Elisabeth Malkin from Mexico City</div>
</div>
</footer><br /></div>
</div>
L.D. Dr.med. D.Sc. Sergio Ulhoa Danihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12192660812752559774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5646338235898592503.post-46366657806211857012016-08-01T09:04:00.002+02:002017-08-27T12:41:56.198+02:00Equipe médica comprova mais um caso de intoxicação pelo arsênio em Paracatu com desfecho fatal<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Desta vez a vítima, uma paciente de 19 anos, </span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">desenvolveu sintomas neurológicos, hematológicos e gastrointestinais durante a gravidez, vindo a perder o feto de 22 semanas. A equipe médica interdisciplinar do Hospital de Base de Brasília diagnosticou intoxicação crônica pelo arsênio.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A paciente vive em Paracatu, cidade contaminada pelo arsênio liberado pela maior mineração de ouro a céu aberto do Brasil, operada pela transnacional canadense Kinross Gold Corporation. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">O arsênio é absorvido através das vias respiratória e gastrointestinal e acumula-se lentamente nos ossos das pessoas. Durante a gravidez, a taxa de osteoressorção aumenta, e consequentemente a taxa de liberação do arsênio armazenado cronicamente nos ossos aumenta, podendo atingir níveis de intoxicação sub-aguda.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Este não é o primeiro caso de morte causada pela Kinross em Paracatu, nem será o último, pois o arsêno liberado pela mineradora continuará matando por décadas e séculos. Mas este é um dos casos mais bem documentados até o momento. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Em 2009, a Fundação Acangau entrou com uma ação civil pública em Paracatu exigindo a realização de um estudo epidemiológico, clínico e laboratorial de toda a população da cidade. Passados 7 anos, o pedido ainda não foi atendido, e as pessoas continuam a ser intoxicadas e mortas pela Kinross em Paracatu, com a cumplicidade de certos políticos e a condescendência de certas autoridades do Ministério Público e da Justiça.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A vítima desta vez entrou com uma ação contra a Kinross. A depender do padrão de impotência, inação, cooptação, incompetência e corrupção por parte de ceras autoridades de Paracatu e do Brasil, a vítima corre o risco de ser culpada por ter nascido em Paracatu, e a invasora Kinross inocentada de mais um crime hediondo.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Sergio Ulhoa Dani, de </span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">St.Gallen, Suíça, e</span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">m 01 de agosto de 2016</span>L.D. Dr.med. D.Sc. Sergio Ulhoa Danihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12192660812752559774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5646338235898592503.post-29696041213087658522015-12-21T21:47:00.002+01:002016-01-10T02:20:04.745+01:00Une contamination grave, persistante et progressive de l’environnement, assortie d’une intoxication de la population par l’arsenic libéré par l’entreprise minière Kinross à Paracatu, Brésil est confirmée<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Décembre 2015. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Un rapport remis cette semaine au tribunal du Minas Gerais et aux Ministères publics de l’Etat du Minas Gerais et fédéral confirme l’intoxication chronique de dizaines de personnes par l’arsenic libéré par l’activité aurifère menée à grande échelle à Paracatu.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Les mesures des taux d’arsenic ont été réalisées par un géologue de Paracatu, Marcio Jose dos Santos, en collaboration avec un médecin exerçant en Suisse, Sergio Ulhoa Dani. Les spécialistes ont mesuré la concentration d’arsenic dans les eaux souterraines et superficielles et dans l’urine des enfants et adultes résidents en aval des barrages de rejets toxiques de la transnationale canadienne Kinross Gold Corporation (TSX:K; NYSE:KGC).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Des dizaines de personnes examinées présentaient des niveaux d’arsenic dans l’urine supérieurs à la concentration maximale tolérable, conformément aux taux fixés par l’OMS.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ci-dessous figure un résumé du rapport remis aux autorités judiciaires de Paracatu, incluant les 10 recommandations faites par les spécialistes.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">En savoir plus …</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.alertaparacatu.blogspot.ch/2015/12/comprovada-contaminacao-ambiental-grave.html">http://www.alertaparacatu.blogspot.ch/2015/12/comprovada-contaminacao-ambiental-grave.html</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
L.D. Dr.med. D.Sc. Sergio Ulhoa Danihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12192660812752559774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5646338235898592503.post-51677458354271083292014-07-17T20:55:00.000+02:002014-07-24T12:44:24.834+02:00UN strengthens regulations on lead in infant formula and arsenic in rice<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcOVjt2vUQYYDhoqThGNmC4uCdVBoRGEPtIlTlOP-E70flUc-19Zt1Fg2aNWZ3ZkVCq-T5St7zaKeu4tIQl4cx4fu2xDDfWqRsX4fZynKSget4wOHN-XXQ7D_f-Es35eGjuD-Yg4C1zAfZ/s1600/FAO-logo.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcOVjt2vUQYYDhoqThGNmC4uCdVBoRGEPtIlTlOP-E70flUc-19Zt1Fg2aNWZ3ZkVCq-T5St7zaKeu4tIQl4cx4fu2xDDfWqRsX4fZynKSget4wOHN-XXQ7D_f-Es35eGjuD-Yg4C1zAfZ/s1600/FAO-logo.png" height="73" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Joint FAO-WHO Codex Alimentarius Committee sets new food safety standards</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/238802/icode/">http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/238802/icode/ </a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ6-HKickQPSii38Cvws1NMim0kUuHRHbEYK-DyFdSbAptUGeXr_D_HaWkWpHUMuc9hc6hWQxAjNaCzJrptBgDa_Wkq_jr1pqmqPrux0TJ9sUUVCr4G7OtbCcuEzJ4HBe60MSlO6vO2xYd/s1600/679a056465.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ6-HKickQPSii38Cvws1NMim0kUuHRHbEYK-DyFdSbAptUGeXr_D_HaWkWpHUMuc9hc6hWQxAjNaCzJrptBgDa_Wkq_jr1pqmqPrux0TJ9sUUVCr4G7OtbCcuEzJ4HBe60MSlO6vO2xYd/s1600/679a056465.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Photo: ©FAO/Giulio Napolitano</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Rice for sale at a vendor's stall in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh.</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span>
<br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>17 July 2014, Geneva</b> - UN food standards body the Codex Alimentarius Commission this week adopted new standards to protect consumer health worldwide, including setting out maximum acceptable levels of lead in infant formula and of arsenic in rice. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Jointly run by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO), the Codex Alimentarius Commission sets international food safety and quality standards to promote safer and more nutritious food for consumers worldwide. Codex standards serve in many cases as a basis for national legislation, and provide the food safety benchmarks for international food trade.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The annual meeting this week was attended by representatives from 170 countries and the European Union, as well as 30 international governmental and non-governmental organizations.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Lead in infant formula</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The Codex Alimentarius Commission adopted a recommendation that no more than 0.01 mg per kg of lead should be permitted in infant formula as consumed. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Infants and young children are particularly vulnerable to the toxic effects of lead. They can suffer profound and permanent adverse health effects, particularly affecting the development of the brain and nervous system, which can diminish their ability to learn.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Lead occurs in the environment and trace amounts can end up in the ingredients that are used in the production of infant formula.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Levels of lead in infant formula can be controlled by sourcing raw materials from areas where lead is less present.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Arsenic in rice</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">For the first time, Codex has adopted a maximum level for arsenic in rice of 0.2 mg/kg.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Long-term exposure to arsenic can cause cancer and skin lesions. It has also been associated with developmental effects, heart disease, diabetes, and damage the nervous system and brain.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Arsenic is naturally present at high levels in the groundwater and soil in some parts of the world. The toxic element can enter the food chain when it is absorbed by crops from water and soil. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Rice in particular can take up more arsenic than other crops and as a staple food for millions of people can contribute significantly to arsenic exposure, which is detrimental to human health. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Arsenic contamination in rice is of particular concern in some Asian countries where paddy fields are irrigated with groundwater containing arsenic-rich sediments pumped from shallow tube wells. Improved irrigation and agricultural practices can help reduce arsenic contamination, for example growing crops in raised beds instead of flooded fields. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The Commission also agreed to develop a new code of practice that will help countries comply with the maximum level set and provide producers with good agricultural and manufacturing techniques to prevent and reduce contamination.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Veterinary drugs</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Codex recommended that the use of certain veterinary drugs should be restricted in food-producing animals in order to prevent residual amounts of the drugs remaining in meat, milk, eggs or honey. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The eight drugs (chloramphenicol, malachite green, carbadox, furazolidone, nitrofural, chlorpromazine, stilbenes and olaquinadox), including antimicrobials and growth promoters, can potentially have adverse effects on human health and may contribute to the development of drug resistance.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Other measures</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Countries also agreed on maximum levels of pesticide residues and additives in foods as well as maximum levels of contaminants, including toxins called fumonisins that are produced by mould growing on maize. Other measures include new safety and quality standards for foods such as raw scallops, passion fruit, durian and okra.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Future work</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Countries decided on a range of topics for future development, including establishing standards for black, white and green pepper, cumin, oregano, thyme and garlic, and setting maximum levels for cadmium in chocolate and cocoa-derived products.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The Commission also discussed the need for a Codex standard for ready-to-eat foods for malnourished children, on the proposal from UNICEF, to guarantee the safety and quality of such foods. The Commission decide to follow up on this discussion at its Committee on Nutrition and Foods for Special Dietary Uses.</span>L.D. Dr.med. D.Sc. Sergio Ulhoa Danihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12192660812752559774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5646338235898592503.post-433595781576724552012-12-31T01:48:00.004+01:002013-01-07T18:51:31.408+01:00Sign the petition to stop genocide through gold mining and arsenic release in Paracatu.<br />
<div class="date-posts" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; line-height: 16px;">
<div class="post-outer">
<div class="post hentry" itemprop="blogPost" itemscope="itemscope" itemtype="http://schema.org/BlogPosting" style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; min-height: 0px; position: relative;">
<div class="post-header" style="line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;">
<div class="post-header-line-1">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.avaaz.org/po/petition/Stop_genocide_through_gold_mining_and_arsenic_release_in_Paracatu/">http://www.avaaz.org/po/petition/Stop_genocide_through_gold_mining_and_arsenic_release_in_Paracatu/</a></span></div>
</div>
<div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-5718083376513116423" itemprop="description articleBody" style="line-height: 1.4; position: relative; width: 490px;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2kC5eav6ADKuRpZHIqouQMIEmAogUfC-hjbZs_YYceHoC76DcyKenOHpY6MODR5a84gAeL6qQxWSYNTnDVBAtXQNvEZJfS9LqaNBFvXRHt72nIO3JYk4GWrDljwMyQAQWuLo6WLaesAUD/s1600/Gold+mining+ban+on+arsenic+bearing+deposits.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="color: #757575; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration: initial;"><img border="0" height="202" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2kC5eav6ADKuRpZHIqouQMIEmAogUfC-hjbZs_YYceHoC76DcyKenOHpY6MODR5a84gAeL6qQxWSYNTnDVBAtXQNvEZJfS9LqaNBFvXRHt72nIO3JYk4GWrDljwMyQAQWuLo6WLaesAUD/s400/Gold+mining+ban+on+arsenic+bearing+deposits.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392) 1px 1px 5px; border: 1px solid rgb(232, 232, 232); box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392) 1px 1px 5px; padding: 5px; position: relative;" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="font-size: 13px;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">Anthropogenic arsenic is piling up worldwide because of disastrous projects such as Canadian Kinross Gold Corporation's gold mining in Paracatu, Brazil. Kinross obtains financial and political support from the Canadian government. Kinross obtains permits for its activities of genocidal stature by corruption, facilitation payments, black mailing and even murder. The people of Paracatu and a number of institutions like Acangau Foundation in Brazil and the Halifax Initiative in Canada are desperately seeking sanction for Kinnross’ genocidal activities. We urge the Canadian Government to stop financing Kinross, start indemnizing the Paracatu people. We urge the governments of Brazil and Canada to impose a complete ban on gold mining in arsenic-bearing deposits. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /><b>Why this is important: </b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />To obtain tens of tonnes of gold, Canadian Kinross Gold Corporation has released more than 300 hundred thousand tonnes of inorganic arsenic from the rocks of its open cut gold mine in Paracatu, a 90 thousand inhabitant town in Brazil. In the next 30 years, Kinross will release 1 million tonnes of this dreadful environmental toxicant into the biosphere. One gram of inorganic arsenic is enough to instantly kill seven adult people or cause chronic disease like cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and Alzheimer's disease if the exposure occurs over years or decades. Accordingly, the incidences of cancer, abortion and other diseases have increased significantly in Paracatu since Kinross initiated its gold mining activities in town. There is no such thing as a safe dose for a cancer causing substance like arsenic. The arsenic released by Kinross into the air, soil and water in Paracatu is bioaccessible to millions of living beings including people in Brazil and worldwide. The incredible amounts of arsenic from Paracatu will persist in the environment for hundreds to thousands of years causing persistent, chronic killings, human suffering and poverty. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /><b>For additional information, please refer to:</b> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://sosarsenic.blogspot.de/2012/12/desperately-seeking-sanction-canadian_4071.html">http://sosarsenic.blogspot.de/2012/12/desperately-seeking-sanction-canadian_4071.html</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /><a href="http://sosarsenic.blogspot.de/2010/07/stop-invisible-mass-killing-worldwide.html">http://sosarsenic.blogspot.de/2010/07/stop-invisible-mass-killing-worldwide.html</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /><a href="http://www.brasileirosparaomundo.blogspot.de/2012/11/le-taux-de-cancer-paracatu-est-tres.html">http://www.brasileirosparaomundo.blogspot.de/2012/11/le-taux-de-cancer-paracatu-est-tres.html</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /><a href="http://sosarsenic.blogspot.de/2009/11/canadian-kinross-gold-corporation.html">http://sosarsenic.blogspot.de/2009/11/canadian-kinross-gold-corporation.html</a></span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
L.D. Dr.med. D.Sc. Sergio Ulhoa Danihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12192660812752559774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5646338235898592503.post-70854854934490823612012-12-13T20:46:00.001+01:002012-12-13T20:46:43.665+01:00Arsenic uptake and metabolism in plants.<span style="font-size: large;">New Phytol. 2009 Mar;181(4):777-94. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Zhao FJ, Ma JF, Meharg AA, McGrath SP. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Soil Science Department, Rothamsted Research, Harpenden, Hertfordshire AL5 2JQ, UK. </i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Abstract</b> - Arsenic (As) is an element that is nonessential for and toxic to plants. Arsenic contamination in the environment occurs in many regions, and, depending on environmental factors, its accumulation in food crops may pose a health risk to humans.Recent progress in understanding the mechanisms of As uptake and metabolism in plants is reviewed here. Arsenate is taken up by phosphate transporters. A number of the aquaporin nodulin26-like intrinsic proteins (NIPs) are able to transport arsenite,the predominant form of As in reducing environments. In rice (<i>Oryza sativa</i>), arsenite uptake shares the highly efficient silicon (Si) pathway of entry to root cells and efflux towards the xylem. In root cells arsenate is rapidly reduced to arsenite, which is effluxed to the external medium, complexed by thiol peptides or translocated to shoots. One type of arsenate reductase has been identified, but its in planta functions remain to be investigated. Some fern species in the Pteridaceae family are able to hyperaccumulate As in above-ground tissues. Hyperaccumulation appears to involve enhanced arsenate uptake, decreased arsenite-thiol complexation and arsenite efflux to the external medium, greatly enhanced xylem translocation of arsenite, and vacuolar sequestration of arsenite in fronds. Current knowledge gaps and future research directions are also identified.</span>L.D. Dr.med. D.Sc. Sergio Ulhoa Danihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12192660812752559774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5646338235898592503.post-38551701492826775562012-12-13T20:37:00.003+01:002012-12-13T20:37:47.123+01:00Growth of a bacterium that apparently uses arsenic instead of phosphorus is a consequence of massive ribosome breakdown.<span style="font-size: large;">J Biol Chem. 2012 Aug 17;287(34):28816-9. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Basturea GN, Harris TK, Deutscher MP. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, Florida 33136, USA.</i> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Abstract</b> - A recent study (Wolfe-Simon, F., Switzer Blum, J., Kulp, T. R., Gordon, G. W., Hoeft, S. E., Pett-Ridge, J., Stolz, J. F., Webb, S. M., Weber, P. K., Davies, P. C., Anbar, A. D., and Oremland, R. S. (2011) Science 332, 1163-1166) described the isolation of a special bacterial strain, GFAJ-1, that could grow in medium containing arsenate, but lacking phosphate, and that supposedly could substitute arsenic for phosphorus in its biological macromolecules. Here, we provide an alternative explanation for these observations and show that they can be reproduced in a laboratory strain of Escherichia coli. We find that arsenate induces massive ribosome degradation, which provides a source of phosphate. A small number of arsenate-tolerant cells arise during the long lag period prior to initiation of growth in +As/-P medium, and it is this population that undergoes the very slow, limited growth observed for both E. coli and GFAJ-1. These results provide a simple explanation for the reported growth of GFAJ-1 in arsenate without invoking replacement of phosphorus by arsenic in biological macromolecules.
</span>L.D. Dr.med. D.Sc. Sergio Ulhoa Danihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12192660812752559774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5646338235898592503.post-18179693540548838322012-12-13T20:34:00.001+01:002012-12-13T20:34:31.380+01:00Urinary arsenic levels in the French adult population: the French National Nutrition and Health Study, 2006-2007.<span style="font-size: large;">Sci Total Environ. 2012 Sep 1;433:206-15. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Saoudi A, Zeghnoun A, Bidondo ML, Garnier R, Cirimele V, Persoons R, Fréry N. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Institut de Veille Sanitaire, Département Santé Environnement, Saint-Maurice, France.</i> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Abstract</b> - The French Nutrition and Health Survey (ENNS) was conducted to describe dietary intakes, nutritional status, physical activity, and levels of various biomarkers for environmental chemicals (heavy metals and pesticides) in the French population (adults aged 18-74 years and children aged 3-17 years living in continental France in 2006-2007). The aim of this paper was to describe the distributions of total arsenic and the sum of iAs+MMA+DMA in the general adult population, and to present their main risk factors. In the arsenic study, 1500 and 1515 adults (requested to avoid seafood intake in the previous 3 days preceding urine collection) were included respectively for the analysis of the sum of inorganic arsenic (iAs) and its two metabolites, monomethylarsonic acid (MMA) and dimethylarsinic acid (DMA), and for the total arsenic. Results were presented as geometric means and selected percentiles of urinary arsenic concentrations (μg/L) and creatinine-adjusted urinary arsenic (μg/g of creatinine) for total arsenic, and the sum of inorganic arsenic and metabolites (iAs+MMA+DMA). The geometric mean concentration of the sum of iAs+MMA+DMA in the adult population living in France was 3.34 μg/g of creatinine [3.23-3.45] (3.75 μg/L [3.61-3.90]) with a 95th percentile of 8.9 μg/g of creatinine (10.68 μg/L). The geometric mean concentration of total arsenic was 11.96 μg/g of creatinine [11.41-12.53] (13.42 μg/L [12.77-14.09]) with a 95th percentile of 61.29 μg/g of creatinine (72.75 μg/L). Urinary concentrations of total arsenic and iAS+MMA+DMA were influenced by sociodemographic and economic factors, and by risk factors such as consumption of seafood products and of wine. In our study, covariate-adjusted geometric means demonstrated several slight differences, due to consumption of fish, shellfish/crustaceans or wine. This study provides the first reference value forarsenic in a representative sample of the French population not particularly exposed to high levels of arsenic (10 μg/g of creatinine). It shows that urinary arsenic concentrations in the French adult population (in particular concentrations of iAs+MMA+DMA) were relatively low compared with foreign data.
</span>L.D. Dr.med. D.Sc. Sergio Ulhoa Danihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12192660812752559774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5646338235898592503.post-29768989707402628152012-12-13T20:30:00.006+01:002012-12-13T20:30:52.993+01:00Thioarsenate formation upon dissolution of orpiment and arsenopyrite. <span style="font-size: large;">Chemosphere. 2012 Nov;89(11):1390-8. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Suess E, Planer-Friedrich B. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>University of Bayreuth, Environmental Geochemistry, Universitaetsstrasse 30, 95440 Bayreuth, Germany. </i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Abstract</b> - Thioarsenates were previously determined as dominant species in geothermal and mineral waters with excess sulfide. Here, we used batch leaching experiments to determine their formation upon weathering or industrial leaching of the arsenic-sulfide minerals orpiment (As(2)S(3)) and arsenopyrite (FeAsS) under different pH and oxygen conditions. Under acidic conditions, as expected based on their known kinetic instability at low pH, no thioarsenates formed in either of the two mineral systems. Under neutral to alkaline conditions, orpiment dissolution yielded mono-, di- and trithioarsenate which accounted for up to 43-55% of total arsenic. Thioarsenate formation upon arsenopyrite dissolution was low at neutral (4%) but significant at alkaline pH, especially under suboxic to sulfidic conditions (20-43%, mainly as monothioarsenate). In contrast to orpiment, we postulate that recombination of arsenite and sulfide in solution is of minor importance for monothioarsenate formation during alkaline arsenopyrite dissolution. We propose instead that hydroxyl physisorption lead to formation of As-OH-S surface complexes by transposition of hydroxyl anions to arsenic or iron sites. Concurrently formed ironhydroxides could provide re-sorption sites for the freshly released monothioarsenate. However, sorption experiments with goethite showed slower sorption kinetics of monothioarsenate compared to arsenite, but comparable with arsenate. The discovery that thioarsenates are released by natural weathering and industrial leaching processes and that, once they are released, have a higher mobility than the commonly-investigated species arsenite and arsenate requires future studies to consider them when assessing arsenic release in sulfidic natural or mining-impacted environments.
</span>L.D. Dr.med. D.Sc. Sergio Ulhoa Danihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12192660812752559774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5646338235898592503.post-10678870639221869822012-12-13T20:28:00.002+01:002012-12-13T20:28:24.756+01:00Exposure of soil microbial communities to chromium and arsenic alters their diversity and structure.<span style="font-size: large;">PLoS One. 2012;7(6):e40059. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Sheik CS, Mitchell TW, Rizvi FZ, Rehman Y, Faisal M, Hasnain S, McInerney MJ, Krumholz LR.</span><br />
<i><span style="font-size: large;">Department of Botany and Microbiology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, United States of America. </span></i><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Abstract</b> - Extensive use of chromium (Cr) and arsenic (As) based preservatives from the leather tanning industry in Pakistan has had a deleterious effect on the soils surrounding production facilities. Bacteria have been shown to be an active component in the geochemical cycling of both Cr and As, but it is unknown how these compounds affect microbial community composition or the prevalence and form of metal resistance. Therefore, we sought to understand the effects that long-term exposure to As and Cr had on the diversity and structure of soil microbial communities. Soils from three spatially isolated tanning facilities in the Punjab province of Pakistan were analyzed. The structure, diversity and abundance of microbial 16S rRNA genes were highly influenced by the concentration and presence of hexavalent chromium (Cr (VI)) and arsenic. When compared to control soils, contaminated soils were dominated by Proteobacteria while Actinobacteria and Acidobacteria (which are generally abundant in pristine soils) were minor components of the bacterial community. Shifts in community composition were significant and revealed that Cr (VI)-containing soils were more similar to each other than to As contaminated soils lacking Cr (VI). Diversity of the arsenic resistance genes, arsB and ACR3 were also determined. Results showed that ACR3 becomes less diverse as arsenic concentrations increase with a single OTU dominating at the highest concentration. Chronic exposure to either Cr or As not only alters the composition of the soil bacterial community in general, but affects the arsenic resistant individuals in different ways.
</span>L.D. Dr.med. D.Sc. Sergio Ulhoa Danihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12192660812752559774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5646338235898592503.post-47796493250495119432012-12-13T20:26:00.004+01:002012-12-13T20:26:56.251+01:00The role of irrigation techniques in arsenic bioaccumulation in rice (Oryza sativa L.).<span style="font-size: large;">Environ Sci Technol. 2012 Aug 7;46(15):8333-40. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Spanu A, Daga L, Orlandoni AM, Sanna G. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Dipartimento Agraria, Università di Sassari, Via De Nicola 1, I-07100 Sassari, Italy.</i> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Abstract</b> - The bioaccumulation of arsenic compounds in rice is of great concern worldwide because rice is the staple food for billions of people and arsenic is one of the most toxic and carcinogenic elements at even trace amounts. The uptake of arsenic compounds in rice comes mainly from its interaction with system soil/water in the reducing conditions typical of paddy fields and is influenced by the irrigation used. We demonstrate that the use of sprinkler irrigation produces rice kernels with a concentration of total arsenic about fifty times lower when compared to rice grown under continuous flooding irrigation. The average total amount of arsenic, measured by a fully validated ICP-MS method, in 37 rice grain genotypes grown with sprinkler irrigation was 2.8 ± 2.5 μg kg(-1), whereas the average amount measured in the same genotypes grown under identical conditions, but using continuous flooding irrigation was 163 ± 23 μg kg(-1). In addition, we find that the average concentration of total arsenic in rice grains cultivated under sprinkler irrigation is close to the total arsenic concentration found in irrigation waters. Our results suggest that, in our experimental conditions, the natural bioaccumulation of this element in rice grains may be completely circumvented by adopting an appropriate irrigation technique.
</span>L.D. Dr.med. D.Sc. Sergio Ulhoa Danihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12192660812752559774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5646338235898592503.post-26250329109261583962012-12-13T20:24:00.003+01:002012-12-13T20:24:32.791+01:00Effect of environmental exposure of arsenic on cattle and poultry in Nadia district, West Bengal, India.<span style="font-size: large;">Toxicol Int. 2012 Jan;19(1):59-62. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Datta BK, Bhar MK, Patra PH, Majumdar D, Dey RR, Sarkar S, Mandal TK, Chakraborty AK. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, West Bengal University of Animal and Fishery Sciences, 37, K.B. Sarani, Kolkata, India. </i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Abstract</b> - A study was undertaken to evaluate an alternative source of arsenicosis in human food chain through livestock. Thirty milch cattle and 20 poultry birds along with their eggs were selected randomly from two endemic villages of Nadia district and one nonendemic villages of Hooghly district in West Bengal, India. Milk, feces, urine, and hair samples of cattle and feed materials, such as water and straw, were collected to analyze arsenic status.Arsenic concentration in egg yolk and albumen from poultry eggs and different poultry organs after culling was estimated. Distribution of arsenic in animal body indicates that major portion of arsenic was eliminated through feces, urine, and milk. Poultry egg yolk, albumen, and poultry products retain arsenic in all organs. Cows and poultry birds reared in endemic zone retain significantly higher concentration of arsenic. Consumption of egg, agricultural produces grown in contaminated soil, and milk might have produced arsenicosis and may be considered as alternative source of arsenic contamination.
</span>L.D. Dr.med. D.Sc. Sergio Ulhoa Danihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12192660812752559774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5646338235898592503.post-9212765308870708692012-12-13T20:23:00.001+01:002012-12-13T20:23:20.885+01:00Arsenic and lead contamination in urban soils of Villa de la Paz (Mexico) affected by historical mine wastes and its effect on children's health studied by micronucleated exfoliated cells assay.<span style="font-size: large;">Environ Geochem Health. 2012 Jun 27. [Epub ahead of print]</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Gamiño-Gutiérrez SP, González-Pérez CI, Gonsebatt ME, Monroy-Fernández MG. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Programa Multidisciplinario de Posgrado en Ciencias Ambientales, Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí, San Luis Potosí, Mexico. </i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Abstract</b> - Environmental geochemical and health studies were carried out in urban areas of Villa de la Paz, S.L.P. (Mexico), where mining activities have been developed for more of 200 years, leading to the pollution of surface soil by arsenic and heavy metals (Pb, Cd, Cu, Zn). The analysis of urban soils to determine total and bioaccessibility concentrations of As and Pb, demonstrated a combined contribution of the natural and anthropogenic concentrations in the site, at levels higher than the environmental guideline values that provoke a human health risk. Contour soil mapping confirmed that historical mine waste deposits without environmental control measures, are the main source of pollution soil by As and Pb in the site. Exposure (Pb in blood and As in urine) and effect (micronucleated exfoliated cells assay) biological monitoring were then carried out in the childhood population of the site and in a control site. The exposure biological monitoring demonstrated that at least 20-30 % of children presented Pb and As exposure values higher than the national and international maximum intervention values. The effect biomonitoring by MEC assay confirmed that there is a genotoxic damage in local childhood population that could be associated with the arsenic exposure in the site.
</span>L.D. Dr.med. D.Sc. Sergio Ulhoa Danihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12192660812752559774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5646338235898592503.post-1768149053417361392012-12-13T20:21:00.006+01:002012-12-13T20:21:53.157+01:00Fluvial transport and surface enrichment of arsenic in semi-arid mining regions: examples from the Mojave Desert, California.<span style="font-size: large;">J Environ Monit. 2012 Jul;14(7):1798-813. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Kim CS, Stack DH, Rytuba JJ. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Schmid College of Science and Technology, Chapman University, Orange, CA 92866, USA. </i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Abstract</b> - As a result of extensive gold and silver mining in the Mojave Desert, southern California, mine wastes and tailings containing highly elevated arsenic(As) concentrations remain exposed at a number of former mining sites. Decades of weathering and erosion have contributed to the mobilization of As-enriched tailings, which now contaminate surrounding communities. Fluvial transport plays an intermittent yet important and relatively undocumented role in the migration and dispersal of As-contaminated mine wastes in semi-arid climates. Assessing the contribution of fluvial systems to tailings mobilization is critical in order to assess the distribution and long-term exposure potential of tailings in a mining-impacted environment. Extensive sampling, chemical analysis, and geospatial mapping of dry streambed (wash) sediments, tailings piles, alluvial fans, and rainwater runoff at multiple mine sites have aided the development of a conceptual model to explain the fluvial migration of mine wastes in semi-arid climates. Intense and episodic precipitation events mobilize mine wastes downstream and downslope as a series of discrete pulses, causing dispersion both down and lateral to washes with exponential decay behavior as distance from the source increases. Accordingly a quantitative model of arsenic concentrations in wash sediments, represented as a series of overlapping exponential power-law decay curves, results in the acceptable reproducibility of observed arsenic concentration patterns. Such a model can be transferable to other abandoned mine lands as a predictive tool for monitoring the fate and transport of arsenic and related contaminants in similar settings. Effective remediation of contaminated mine wastes in a semi-arid environment requires addressing concurrent changes in the amounts of potential tailings released through fluvial processes and the transport capacity of a wash.
</span>L.D. Dr.med. D.Sc. Sergio Ulhoa Danihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12192660812752559774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5646338235898592503.post-24812134197627344622012-12-13T20:17:00.000+01:002012-12-13T20:17:10.245+01:00The palaeosol model of arsenic pollution of groundwater tested along a 32 km traverse across West Bengal, India.<span style="font-size: large;">Sci Total Environ. 2012 Aug 1;431:157-65. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Hoque MA, McArthur JM, Sikdar PK. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Earth Sciences, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK. </i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Abstract</b> - The distribution of As-pollution in groundwater of the deltaic aquifers of south-eastern Asia may be controlled by the subsurface distribution of palaeo-channel sediments (As-polluted groundwaters) and palaeo-interfluvial sediments (As-free groundwaters). To test this idea, termed the palaeosol model of As-pollution, we drilled 10 sites, analysed groundwater from 249 shallow wells (screened < 107 mbgl), field-tested another 149 for As, and used colour as a guide to the presence or absence of As-pollution in a further 531 wells. Our work was conducted along a 32-km traverse running W to E across southern West Bengal, India. At seven drill sites we logged a palaeo-interfluvial sequence, which occurs as three distinct units that together occupy 20 km of the traverse. These palaeo-interfluvial sequences yield As-free groundwaters from brown sands at depth < 100 m. The palaeo-interfluvial sequences are separated by two deep palaeo-channels, which were logged at 3 sites. The palaeo-channel deposits host As-polluted groundwater in grey sands. Our findings confirm the predictions of the palaeosol model of As-pollution. We show again that well-colour can be used both to successfully predict the degree of As-pollution in groundwater, and to locate regions of buried palaeo-interfluve that will yield As-free groundwater for the foreseeable future.
</span>L.D. Dr.med. D.Sc. Sergio Ulhoa Danihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12192660812752559774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5646338235898592503.post-88694934020568698402012-12-13T20:14:00.001+01:002012-12-13T20:14:23.629+01:00A Guillain-Barré Syndrome-like neuropathy associated with arsenic exposure. <span style="font-size: large;">J Occup Health. 2012 May 29. [Epub ahead of print] </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Kim S, Takeuchi A, Kawasumi Y, Endo Y, Lee H, Kim Y. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Department of Neurology, Ulsan University Hospital, University of Ulsan College of Medicine.</i> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Abstract</b> - Objectives: We report on a patient presenting with an isolated polyneuropathy mimicking Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) associated with arsenicexposure. Case: A 43-year-old man visited our emergency room complaining of progressive quadriparesis over the prior 5 days. His clinical course with laboratory data was typical of GBS. However, because of his recent use of herbal medication, we screened for the presence of several heavy metals. Serial analyses of inorganic arsenic concentrations confirmed exposure to arsenic. He was diagnosed as arsenic neuropathy mimicking GBS without any systemic manifestation of arsenic intoxication. Conclusions: The present case study emphasizes the need to consider arsenicintoxication in patients presenting with acute demyelinating neuropathies and histories of herbal medication use.
</span>L.D. Dr.med. D.Sc. Sergio Ulhoa Danihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12192660812752559774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5646338235898592503.post-67758043799209399172012-12-13T20:11:00.001+01:002012-12-13T20:11:17.231+01:00Arsenic induces apoptosis in myoblasts through a reactive oxygen species-induced endoplasmic reticulum stress and mitochondrial dysfunction pathway.<span style="font-size: large;">Arch Toxicol. 2012 Jun;86(6):923-33.
</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Yen YP, Tsai KS, Chen YW, Huang CF, Yang RS, Liu SH. </span><br />
<i><span style="font-size: large;">College of Medicine, Institute of Toxicology, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan. </span></i><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Abstract</b> - A pool of myoblasts available for myogenesis is important for skeletal muscle size. The decreased number of skeletal muscle fibers could be due to the decreased myoblast proliferation or cytotoxicity. Identification of toxicants that regulate myoblast apoptosis is important in skeletal muscle development or regeneration. Here, we investigate the cytotoxic effect and its possible mechanisms of arsenic trioxide (As(2)O(3)) on myoblasts. C2C12 myoblasts underwent apoptosis in response to As(2)O(3) (1-10 μM), accompanied by increased Bax/Bcl-2 ratio, decreased mitochondria membrane potential, increased cytochrome c release, increased caspase-3/-9 activity, and increased poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) cleavage. Moreover, As(2)O(3) triggered the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress indentified through several key molecules of the unfolded protein response, including glucose-regulated protein (GRP)-78, GRP-94, PERK, eIF2α, ATF6, and caspase-12. Pretreatment with antioxidant N-acetylcysteine (NAC, 0.5 mM) dramatically suppressed the increases in reactive oxygen species (ROS), lipid peroxidation, ER stress, caspase cascade activity, and apoptosis in As(2)O(3) (10 μM)-treated myoblasts. Furthermore, As(2)O(3) (10 μM) effectively decreased the phosphorylation of Akt, which could be reversed by NAC. Over-expression of constitutive activation of Akt (c.a. Akt) also significantly attenuated As(2)O(3)-induced myoblast apoptosis. Taken together, these results suggest that As(2)O(3) may exert its cytotoxicity on myoblasts by inducing apoptosis through a ROS-induced mitochondrial dysfunction, ER stress, and Akt inactivation signaling pathway.
</span>L.D. Dr.med. D.Sc. Sergio Ulhoa Danihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12192660812752559774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5646338235898592503.post-82183883460955707182012-12-13T20:10:00.003+01:002012-12-13T20:10:20.132+01:00Antiapoptotic efficacy of folic acid and vitamin B₁₂ against arsenic-induced toxicity.<span style="font-size: large;">Environ Toxicol. 2012 May;27(6):351-63. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Majumdar S, Maiti A, Karmakar S, Das AS, Mukherjee S, Das D, Mitra C. </span><br />
<i><span style="font-size: large;">Institute of Genetic Medicine and Genomic Science, Madhyamgram, Kolkata, India. </span></i><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Abstract</b> - Earlier, we proposed that the ability of folic acid and vitamin B₁₂ to preserve systemic and mitochondrial function after short-term exposure to arsenicmay prevent further progression to more permanent injury and pathological changes leading to cell death. To elucidate its mechanism, the present study examined the antiapoptotic efficacy of folic acid and vitamin B₁₂ against short-term arsenic exposure-induced hepatic mitochondria oxidative stress and dysfunction. Sixteen to eighteen weeks old male albino rats weighing 140-150 × g were divided into five groups: Control (A), Arsenic-treated (B), Arsenic + folic acid (C), Arsenic +vitamin B₁₂ (D), and Arsenic + folic acid + vitamin B₁₂ (E). Data generated indicated that folic acid and vitamin B₁₂ separately or in combination can give significant protection against alterations in oxidative stress and apoptotic marker parameters and downstream changes in mitochondria, namely pro-oxidative (NO, TBARS, OH⁻) and antioxidative defense (SOD, CAT, GSH) markers, iNOS protein expression, mitochondrial swelling, cytochrome c oxidase and Ca²⁺-ATPase activity, Ca²⁺ content, caspase-3 activity. Additionally, results of hepatic cell DNA fragmentation, arsenic load of blood, hepatic tissue and urine, and histological observations, all strongly support that both these supplements have efficacy in preventing apoptotic changes and cellular damage. As the mechanisms of actions of both of these supplements are methylation related, a combined application was more effective. Results further reveal new molecular targets through which folic acid and vitamin B₁₂ separately or in combination work to alleviate one critical component of arsenic-induced liver injury: mitochondria dysfunction.
</span>L.D. Dr.med. D.Sc. Sergio Ulhoa Danihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12192660812752559774noreply@blogger.com0