Abstract
With the discovery of mining and metal-working techniques in ancient times, metals, metals pollution, and human health were linked (Nriagu 1996). Adverse health effects associated with exposure to metals have been at the root of occupational health since Ramazzini’s work in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries (Franco 1999). Everywhere, but particularly in the developing world in the context of small-scale mining, whole communities are deeply affected by mining not just because their livelihoods depend on mining, but because of the proximity of their dwellings to the mine operations (PRODEMINCA 1998).
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Acknowledgments
We thank the residents of Portovelo, Zaruma, Puyango Viejo, Gramadal, and Las Vegas along the Puyango River in Southern Ecuador and many other stakeholders for their long-term contributions. IDRC support was provided through projects 004291, 101415, and 105145.
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Betancourt, Ó., Barriga, R., Guimarães, J.R.D., Cueva, E., Betancourt, S. (2012). Impacts on Environmental Health of Small-Scale Gold Mining in Ecuador. In: Charron, D. (eds) Ecohealth Research in Practice. Insight and Innovation in International Development, vol 1. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-0517-7_11
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