People living near a mine suffer more disease when the mine is flooded than when it is not
flooded. Suggest why
Answers
Answer:
Uranium mining and processing are associated with a wide range of potential adverse human health risks. Some of these risks arise out of aspects of uranium mining and processing specific to that enterprise, whereas other risks apply to the mining sector generally and still others are linked more broadly to large-scale industrial or construction activities. These health risks typically are most relevant to individuals occupationally exposed in this industry but certain exposures and their associated risks can extend via environmental pathways to the general population.
Many of the findings related to occupational exposures and adverse health outcomes presented in this chapter are based on studies of uranium and hard-rock miners (e.g., worker-based radon studies) for periods of disease risk when the magnitude of the exposures was much greater than the exposures reported at most mines and processing facilities in North America today. Nevertheless, although current exposures are generally much lower, contemporary uranium workers and processors in the United States continue to express work-related health concerns. For example, in 2008 the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) organized stakeholder meetings that included uranium miners and processors in Wyoming, Texas, Colorado, and Utah. The stakeholders expressed numerous health-related concerns, including concerns about exposure to alpha radiation via inhalation or ingestion of dust particles containing radon decay products, exposure to both radiation and particulate uranium via inhalation, ingestion and inhalation of ore dust, and exposure to diesel particulate matter (Miller et al., 2008).