High radon concentrations in artisanal copper-cobalt underground mining in Kolwezi, Democratic Republic of the Congo.

IF 2.1 4区医学 Q3 PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH

Annals Of Work Exposures and Health Pub Date : 2026-08-26 DOI:10.1093/annweh/wxag079

Paul Musa Obadia, Joseph Pyana Kitenge, Trésor Carsi Kuhangana, Desiré Mundali Shimbi, Elodie Lwendela Kalasa, Erick Luboya Kalamba, Boris Dehandschutter, Célestin Banza Lubaba Nkulu, Benoit Nemery

{"title":"High radon concentrations in artisanal copper-cobalt underground mining in Kolwezi, Democratic Republic of the Congo.","authors":"Paul Musa Obadia, Joseph Pyana Kitenge, Trésor Carsi Kuhangana, Desiré Mundali Shimbi, Elodie Lwendela Kalasa, Erick Luboya Kalamba, Boris Dehandschutter, Célestin Banza Lubaba Nkulu, Benoit Nemery","doi":"10.1093/annweh/wxag079","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Background: Cobalt mining plays a crucial role for the local and national economy of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), but mining leads to serious occupational health risks, including exposure to radon emanating from the uranium-rich ore in the region. However, no data are available about radon levels in artisanal copper-cobalt underground mines in Kolwezi.Methods: Between May 2021 and April 2023, radon concentrations were measured by means of passive diffusive radon detectors (Radonova) in 3 copper-cobalt underground artisanal mines (Kamilombe, Bridon, and Usine à Cuivre de Kolwezi [UCK]). Thirty detectors were deployed for 56 to 84 d.Results: Of the 30 detectors, only 20 were retrieved because of cave-ins. Median [range] radon levels were 1,425 Bq/m3 [111 to 6,848 Bq/m3] for Kamilombe (n = 10), 2,210 Bq/m3 [96 to 7,910 Bq/m3] for Bridon (n = 5), and 24,800 Bq/m3 [96 Bq/m3-above saturation level of ∼24,000 Bq/m3] for UCK (n = 5). In Kamilombe, radon levels correlated with shaft depth (Spearman ρ = 0·70, P = 0.03).Conclusion: Taking an average duration of 12 h of underground work per day, the observed median radon concentration levels would lead miners to exceed the recommended annual effective dose of 6 mSv within a few months, thus exposing them to a well-recognized risk of lung cancer. Combined with the uranium-rich geology and poor mine ventilation, these findings identify an important occupational health hazard and underscore the need for improved ventilation and routine radon monitoring.","PeriodicalId":8362,"journal":{"name":"Annals Of Work Exposures and Health","volume":"70 7","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.1000,"publicationDate":"2026-08-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Annals Of Work Exposures and Health","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1093/annweh/wxag079","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background: Cobalt mining plays a crucial role for the local and national economy of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), but mining leads to serious occupational health risks, including exposure to radon emanating from the uranium-rich ore in the region. However, no data are available about radon levels in artisanal copper-cobalt underground mines in Kolwezi.

Methods: Between May 2021 and April 2023, radon concentrations were measured by means of passive diffusive radon detectors (Radonova) in 3 copper-cobalt underground artisanal mines (Kamilombe, Bridon, and Usine à Cuivre de Kolwezi [UCK]). Thirty detectors were deployed for 56 to 84 d.

Results: Of the 30 detectors, only 20 were retrieved because of cave-ins. Median [range] radon levels were 1,425 Bq/m3 [111 to 6,848 Bq/m3] for Kamilombe (n = 10), 2,210 Bq/m3 [96 to 7,910 Bq/m3] for Bridon (n = 5), and 24,800 Bq/m3 [96 Bq/m3-above saturation level of ∼24,000 Bq/m3] for UCK (n = 5). In Kamilombe, radon levels correlated with shaft depth (Spearman ρ = 0·70, P = 0.03).

Conclusion: Taking an average duration of 12 h of underground work per day, the observed median radon concentration levels would lead miners to exceed the recommended annual effective dose of 6 mSv within a few months, thus exposing them to a well-recognized risk of lung cancer. Combined with the uranium-rich geology and poor mine ventilation, these findings identify an important occupational health hazard and underscore the need for improved ventilation and routine radon monitoring.

查看原文本刊更多论文

刚果民主共和国Kolwezi手工铜钴地下矿场氡浓度高。

背景：钴矿开采对刚果民主共和国（DRC）的地方和国家经济起着至关重要的作用，但采矿导致严重的职业健康风险，包括暴露于该地区富铀矿石产生的氡。然而，没有关于Kolwezi手工铜钴地下矿氡水平的数据。方法：于2021年5月至2023年4月，采用被动扩散式氡探测器（Radonova）对Kamilombe、Bridon和Usine Cuivre de Kolwezi [UCK] 3个铜钴地下手工矿山进行氡浓度测定。结果：30个探测器在56 ~ 84 d内部署，其中只有20个探测器因塌陷而被回收。Kamilombe的氡水平中位数[范围]为1,425 Bq/m3[111至6,848 Bq/m3] (n = 10)， Bridon的为2,210 Bq/m3[96至7,910 Bq/m3] (n = 5)， UCK的为24,800 Bq/m3 [96 Bq/m3-高于饱和水平~ 24,000 Bq/m3] （n = 5）。在Kamilombe，氡水平与井深相关（Spearman ρ = 0.70, P = 0.03）。结论：以每天在地下工作12小时的平均时间计算，观察到的氡浓度中位数将导致矿工在几个月内超过建议的6毫西弗的年有效剂量，从而使他们暴露于公认的肺癌风险中。结合富铀地质和矿井通风不良，这些发现确定了一个重要的职业健康危害，并强调需要改善通风和常规氡监测。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Annals Of Work Exposures and Health Medicine-Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health

CiteScore

4.60

自引率

19.20%

发文量

期刊介绍： About the Journal Annals of Work Exposures and Health is dedicated to presenting advances in exposure science supporting the recognition, quantification, and control of exposures at work, and epidemiological studies on their effects on human health and well-being. A key question we apply to submission is, "Is this paper going to help readers better understand, quantify, and control conditions at work that adversely or positively affect health and well-being?" We are interested in high quality scientific research addressing: the quantification of work exposures, including chemical, biological, physical, biomechanical, and psychosocial, and the elements of work organization giving rise to such exposures; the relationship between these exposures and the acute and chronic health consequences for those exposed and their families and communities; populations at special risk of work-related exposures including women, under-represented minorities, immigrants, and other vulnerable groups such as temporary, contingent and informal sector workers; the effectiveness of interventions addressing exposure and risk including production technologies, work process engineering, and personal protective systems; policies and management approaches to reduce risk and improve health and well-being among workers, their families or communities; methodologies and mechanisms that underlie the quantification and/or control of exposure and risk. There is heavy pressure on space in the journal, and the above interests mean that we do not usually publish papers that simply report local conditions without generalizable results. We are also unlikely to publish reports on human health and well-being without information on the work exposure characteristics giving rise to the effects. We particularly welcome contributions from scientists based in, or addressing conditions in, developing economies that fall within the above scope.