Children In Hazardous Work (Mining-Page 32)

Estimates place the current total of children in hazardous work at 115 million.
The chemical of major concern in mining right now is mercury, because it is very commonly
used. A cross-sectional study of children between the ages of 9 and 17 working in an artisanal
gold mine found that they had levels of mercury as high as 41 μg/l in urine and 100 μg/l in blood.
The commonly accepted reference values for mercury levels in children are 0.7–0.4 μg/l in urine
and 1.0–0.8 μg/l in blood. A medical examination of the working children showed severe nervous system impairment in comparison with non-working children. Neurological tests revealed
the children involved in mining needed twice as long to perform basic cognitive and reflex tests
as non-working children. More than half of the working children were clinically diagnosed with
severe mercury intoxication.
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 Symptoms of mercury intoxication are uncontrollable tremors, particularly of facial muscles; mood swings, including irritability and nervousness; insomnia; neuromuscular changes, such as weakness and muscle atrophy; headaches; and decline in cognitive
function. High levels of mercury exposure can lead to kidney and respiratory failure and death
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