Pollution from metal mines raises health concerns

More testing is needed in Britain’s metal mining hotspots to see if there is a risk to public health, a leading expert says.

A research session on the potential risks to human health from pollution from abandoned metal mines in Wales will take place on Wednesday.

North Ceredigion is home to more than 400 of Wales’ 1,300 abandoned metal mines and the three rivers Ystwyth, Rheidol and Clarach are among the most heavily polluted in Britain.

The UK government said companies must ensure the food they produce does not exceed the maximum levels set by law.

A Welsh Government spokesperson said it is working with stakeholders to determine the nature and extent of pollution from metal mines and find ways to control it.

Lead can cause a drop in IQ in children and is a risk factor for heart attacks.

There is no safe threshold for adults, says Bruce Lanphear, an expert on lead poisoning in children and adults.

There is no evidence of risk with Ceredigion, but this comes as no surprise, he says, because low-level exposure is difficult to detect without testing or investigations.

He warned that in mining communities in the United States, waste from mines was often used in construction and warned that this could also pose a danger in Britain.

“There can be a lot of contamination in and around housing, where chickens are kept, where children play, and those are the types of exposures you would worry about,” he said.

To eliminate risks, potential threats must be identified, Prof Lanphear said.

‘One of the most important functions of public health is to identify potential threats and determine whether or not they are real.

“If not, people can rest easy and we can worry about other issues,” he said.

That would then allow additional steps to be taken if necessary, he added.

The British government ruled out population research in 2008.

Robin Morris and his wife have lived in Cwmystwyth, Ceredigion for 45 years.

“In plain sight here and certainly within walking distance, there are about a dozen mine entrances where people used to work in the mines,” he said.

“You can see old rock piles, they’ve just been abandoned, crushed the ore and just left it there.”

The Cwmystwyth mines date back to the Bronze Age and were finally abandoned in 1950.

The spoils from the remains at Cwmystwyth are extensive and include huge dumps scattered across the landscape – spoils containing high levels of zinc, cadmium and lead.

These toxic metals have polluted the river below.

Many locals have installed filtration systems as they get their water from the hills where the old mines were once worked, others get their fluid from elsewhere – a safety net against a potential health risk.

Dr. Andrea Sartorius, a research fellow at the University of Nottingham, said Britain was one of the biggest exporters of metals, especially lead, during various parts of the Industrial Revolution.

“The landscape is still affected by the actions of the past,” she said.

Mr Morris lives in a hotspot for old metal mines in Ceredigion – one of many in the UK, along with others in North Yorkshire, Cornwall, north-east Wales.

Waters in Wales are of particular concern, with a recent Freedom of Information Act request revealing that at least 500 tonnes of harmful metals are released into the Welsh environment every year.

There is also a potential risk to agriculture and animals, with evidence of exposure.

A study by Dr. Sartorius looking at lead from abandoned mines in Wales specifically documented that eggs contain levels of lead that are dangerous to children if eaten once or twice a day, and sufficient to reduce the exposure of an average adult to increase significantly.

She also tested horses at another location, 1km downstream, that had died from a disease linked to high levels in their systems.

The exposure may have occurred after drinking river water with high lead levels in the river sediment. The soil in many of the pastures also contained high levels of lead, she said.

Another study found that horses had died after eating silage contaminated by polluted flood water.

Mark Macklin, lead author of that study, has also lived in the area for decades and says climate change could increase contamination from flooding.

“The Ystwyth, the Rheidol and Clarach are very polluted by old mining, but they are not atypical and I think they potentially represent the tip of an iceberg,” he said.

National Resources Wales said more frequent periods of extreme weather could potentially lead to increased erosion of contaminated material from abandoned mine sites and from historically contaminated sediments.

The restoration strategies “take into account forecast rainfall and flow characteristics,” the report said.

Meanwhile, farmers have to bear the brunt of the costs of testing their animals, which MP for Ceredigion Ben Lake says is not fair.

“The government should take the lead in the efforts and also in the costs involved,” he said.

The Welsh Government said it is providing a range of diagnostic, research, expert consultancy and advisory services to help farmers produce food that is safe to buy and consume.

“Some of these are borne by farmers, and some – such as post-mortem examinations and resulting laboratory testing – are heavily subsidized or free to producers.”

The UK government said: “In 2018, an evidence review into the need for population screening was carried out by the UK National Screening Committee, which was not recommended due to concerns about testing and treatment and the lack of current population prevalence data.”

It says local authorities could take enforcement action if maximum levels of lead in food are exceeded.