Human Health Impacts

Health Impacts

Some metals released from mining are toxic to humans, such as mercury, arsenic, cadmium, chromium, and lead. Long-term exposure to arsenic is linked to skin cancer and other organ tumors, while cadmium exposure can cause kidney disease. Lead can stunt normal growth and development in children and some forms of mercury can cause damage to the nervous system.

• The Bunker Hill Superfund Site is a former mining and smelting complex located in the Silver Valley area of Idaho. The site is 21 square miles, and is one of the largest hazardous waste sites in the nation, with soil heavily contaminated with heavy metals, such as lead.  In 1974, high blood lead levels were discovered in children living in five communities impacted by the Bunker Hill lead smelter.
  
  
• The W.R. Grace Company mined vermiculite from 1963 to 1990 in Libby, Montana. The vermiculate ore was commingled with asbestos, contaminating the town and sickening townspeople. Asbestos is a recognized human carcinogen and is known to cause lung cancer and mesothelioma, a lethal tumor in the lining of the chest and abdominal cavities. An investigationby the Seattle Post-Intelligencer newspaper found that more than 200 people have already died from asbestos related illness caused by the Grace mine. They also found at least 400 additional people have been diagnosed with fatal asbestos-related diseases. Because asbestos-related diseases take 10-40 years to manifest, many more residents of Libby could still be diagnosed in the next 30 years.

According to a recent Environmental Protection Agency report on Superfund and mine sites, 38% of mine sites on the National Priorities List have high or medium health risks associated with them.