Abstract
Abandoned mines are an important global concern and continue to pose potential threats to human health including environmental damage/s. There is not any specific regulation for mining wastes in Turkey and this situation puts the mining wastes into the dangerous category. Therefore, this study focuses on the environmental effects of the abandoned mercury mines. To demonstrate environmental mercury contamination, fish samples were collected from two different regions which were contaminated and uncontaminated region. As a biomarker of environmental exposure the levels of Hg in fish samples were measured by Cold Vapor-Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (CVAAS). In fish samples, the levels of Hg were 0.504 ± 0.475 (mg/kg) (Mean ± SD) in Group 1 and 0.04 ± 0.054 (mg/kg) (Mean ± SD) in Group 2. Our data suggested that although mercury mine was closed long time ago, mining waste is still a problem and continues to contaminate the environment.
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Acknowledgments
We thank to Assoc. Prof. Nusret Ertas suggestions and comments on our study and we also thank to Dr. Nadir Celikoz for helping statistical analysis.
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Karahalil, B., Ulukaya, M. & Alp, O. Pilot Study of Environmental Monitoring of Konya Region near Abandoned Mercury Mine in Turkey. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 88, 150–153 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-011-0435-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-011-0435-4