Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Practices and Associated Health Risks for Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining at Stamico, Nsangano, and A.S. Lulila Mine Sites in Tanzania

Abstract

Access to improved water, sanitation, and hygiene is one of the main factors linked to community health risks. Hence, the objective of this paper as to evaluate the water, sanitation and hygiene practices and associated health risks for artisanal and small-scale goldmining at Stamico, Nsangano, and A.S. Lulila Mine Sites in Tanzania using 148 participants with structured questionnaires to harvest quantitative and qualitative data in this study. Findings of the study have revealed that about 95% of the case study area use boreholes water for domestic purposes, and majority use water without treatment. Pit latrines and open defecation are the common practices for most people at the sites. As such, this study revealed that, there is a possibility of microbial infection from salmonella due to the exceeded the limit value of 10^-4. The chronic daily intake suggested that the overall hazard quotient of cancer risk from lead (Pb) was less than the tolerable limit for Pb exposure. The human health risk was assessed and the incremental lifetime cancer risk at all sites was low with values below 10⁻⁶. It is advised that artisanal and small-scale gold mining sites enhance their sanitation and water supplies in order to maintain excellent hygiene practices.