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Contribution to the Assessment of the Impact of Mining Activities on Water Resources and Sediments in the Ubangi Basin: Case of the Moboma Commune (Bagandou)

Received: 2 January 2023     Accepted: 15 May 2023     Published: 29 May 2023
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Abstract

Recently, the problems posed by chemical contaminants, in particular metallic trace elements (TMEs), in the environment, have aroused the interest of the scientific community, because the protection of the environment requires knowledge of the fate of these contaminants and their effects on the living beings that depend on them. Their presence in environmental matrices is often caused by human activities, particularly agriculture, livestock farming, industry and transport. In the region of the Lobaye prefecture, in the south-west of the Central African Republic, gold and diamonds have been mined for decades in an artisanal manner using inadequate methods and environmentally unfriendly substances such as mercury and cyanide. The aim of this study is to determine the trace metal content of the water and sediments in the study area in order to predict the environmental and health risks associated with their use. Water and sediment samples were taken at 16 sites, 6 boreholes, 10 watercourses and a control well, and their concentrations in metals such as Cd, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb and Zn were analysed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The results obtained reveal a significant contamination of these waters and underline a significant variability of the concentrations of the TMEs according to the metal analysed and the type of water, on the semi-mechanised exploitation site at DIKEKELE, the concentration of mercury is 8 µg/l higher than the standard of 1 µg/. The sediments are composed of a majority of Quartz at about 80% on average and 20% overall of kaolinite and muscovite and contain a high proportion of Cr, Pb, Cu, Co and Ni and a low proportion of Hg.

Published in American Journal of Environmental Protection (Volume 12, Issue 3)
DOI 10.11648/j.ajep.20231203.12
Page(s) 66-77
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

TMEs, Environmental Risks, Quartz, Cadmium, Spectrometry

References
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    Herbert Nam-Sionou Remademo, Eric Foto, Oscar Allahdin, José Kpeou, Gildas Doyemet, et al. (2023). Contribution to the Assessment of the Impact of Mining Activities on Water Resources and Sediments in the Ubangi Basin: Case of the Moboma Commune (Bagandou). American Journal of Environmental Protection, 12(3), 66-77. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajep.20231203.12

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    ACS Style

    Herbert Nam-Sionou Remademo; Eric Foto; Oscar Allahdin; José Kpeou; Gildas Doyemet, et al. Contribution to the Assessment of the Impact of Mining Activities on Water Resources and Sediments in the Ubangi Basin: Case of the Moboma Commune (Bagandou). Am. J. Environ. Prot. 2023, 12(3), 66-77. doi: 10.11648/j.ajep.20231203.12

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    AMA Style

    Herbert Nam-Sionou Remademo, Eric Foto, Oscar Allahdin, José Kpeou, Gildas Doyemet, et al. Contribution to the Assessment of the Impact of Mining Activities on Water Resources and Sediments in the Ubangi Basin: Case of the Moboma Commune (Bagandou). Am J Environ Prot. 2023;12(3):66-77. doi: 10.11648/j.ajep.20231203.12

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ajep.20231203.12,
      author = {Herbert Nam-Sionou Remademo and Eric Foto and Oscar Allahdin and José Kpeou and Gildas Doyemet and Narcisse Zoudamba and Bruno Nguerekossi and Cyrille Ndepete},
      title = {Contribution to the Assessment of the Impact of Mining Activities on Water Resources and Sediments in the Ubangi Basin: Case of the Moboma Commune (Bagandou)},
      journal = {American Journal of Environmental Protection},
      volume = {12},
      number = {3},
      pages = {66-77},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ajep.20231203.12},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajep.20231203.12},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajep.20231203.12},
      abstract = {Recently, the problems posed by chemical contaminants, in particular metallic trace elements (TMEs), in the environment, have aroused the interest of the scientific community, because the protection of the environment requires knowledge of the fate of these contaminants and their effects on the living beings that depend on them. Their presence in environmental matrices is often caused by human activities, particularly agriculture, livestock farming, industry and transport. In the region of the Lobaye prefecture, in the south-west of the Central African Republic, gold and diamonds have been mined for decades in an artisanal manner using inadequate methods and environmentally unfriendly substances such as mercury and cyanide. The aim of this study is to determine the trace metal content of the water and sediments in the study area in order to predict the environmental and health risks associated with their use. Water and sediment samples were taken at 16 sites, 6 boreholes, 10 watercourses and a control well, and their concentrations in metals such as Cd, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb and Zn were analysed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The results obtained reveal a significant contamination of these waters and underline a significant variability of the concentrations of the TMEs according to the metal analysed and the type of water, on the semi-mechanised exploitation site at DIKEKELE, the concentration of mercury is 8 µg/l higher than the standard of 1 µg/. The sediments are composed of a majority of Quartz at about 80% on average and 20% overall of kaolinite and muscovite and contain a high proportion of Cr, Pb, Cu, Co and Ni and a low proportion of Hg.},
     year = {2023}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Contribution to the Assessment of the Impact of Mining Activities on Water Resources and Sediments in the Ubangi Basin: Case of the Moboma Commune (Bagandou)
    AU  - Herbert Nam-Sionou Remademo
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    AU  - José Kpeou
    AU  - Gildas Doyemet
    AU  - Narcisse Zoudamba
    AU  - Bruno Nguerekossi
    AU  - Cyrille Ndepete
    Y1  - 2023/05/29
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    DO  - 10.11648/j.ajep.20231203.12
    T2  - American Journal of Environmental Protection
    JF  - American Journal of Environmental Protection
    JO  - American Journal of Environmental Protection
    SP  - 66
    EP  - 77
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2328-5699
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajep.20231203.12
    AB  - Recently, the problems posed by chemical contaminants, in particular metallic trace elements (TMEs), in the environment, have aroused the interest of the scientific community, because the protection of the environment requires knowledge of the fate of these contaminants and their effects on the living beings that depend on them. Their presence in environmental matrices is often caused by human activities, particularly agriculture, livestock farming, industry and transport. In the region of the Lobaye prefecture, in the south-west of the Central African Republic, gold and diamonds have been mined for decades in an artisanal manner using inadequate methods and environmentally unfriendly substances such as mercury and cyanide. The aim of this study is to determine the trace metal content of the water and sediments in the study area in order to predict the environmental and health risks associated with their use. Water and sediment samples were taken at 16 sites, 6 boreholes, 10 watercourses and a control well, and their concentrations in metals such as Cd, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb and Zn were analysed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The results obtained reveal a significant contamination of these waters and underline a significant variability of the concentrations of the TMEs according to the metal analysed and the type of water, on the semi-mechanised exploitation site at DIKEKELE, the concentration of mercury is 8 µg/l higher than the standard of 1 µg/. The sediments are composed of a majority of Quartz at about 80% on average and 20% overall of kaolinite and muscovite and contain a high proportion of Cr, Pb, Cu, Co and Ni and a low proportion of Hg.
    VL  - 12
    IS  - 3
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Lavoisier Hydrosciences Laboratory, Faculty of Science, University of Bangui, Bangui, Central African Republic

  • Lavoisier Hydrosciences Laboratory, Faculty of Science, University of Bangui, Bangui, Central African Republic

  • Lavoisier Hydrosciences Laboratory, Faculty of Science, University of Bangui, Bangui, Central African Republic

  • Geosciences Laboratory, Faculty of Sciences University of Bangui, Bangui, Central African Republic

  • Lavoisier Hydrosciences Laboratory, Faculty of Science, University of Bangui, Bangui, Central African Republic

  • Lavoisier Hydrosciences Laboratory, Faculty of Science, University of Bangui, Bangui, Central African Republic

  • Lavoisier Hydrosciences Laboratory, Faculty of Science, University of Bangui, Bangui, Central African Republic

  • Geosciences Laboratory, Faculty of Sciences University of Bangui, Bangui, Central African Republic

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