The action by the Environment Protection Authority follows alarming results from testing of rainwater tanks and the blood and hair of residents living near to the mine.
One symptom of arsenic poisoning is the growth of plaques on the skin called arsenical keratosis.
Anita Ghosh/REACH via Flickr
Millions of people worldwide are exposed via soil and water to arsenic, whether naturally occurring or related to pollution. Chronic exposure is linked to the formation of cancer stem cells.
A caracal monitored by the Urban Caracal Project, TMC33 Hermes, walks across a pipeline in Cape Town.
Kris Marx
The mystery surrounding a forgotten marine mammal, a remote archipelago and man-made pollution.
When two neutron stars merge and create a black hole, they produce a powerful blast of gamma rays.
A. Simonnet (Sonoma State Univ.) and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Gamma-ray bursts occur when a massive star explodes or when two neutron stars merge. A newly discovered burst has puzzled astronomers, as it lasted much longer than astronomers would have expected.
The Osun River has become turbid and unsafe for consumption - threatening its cultural and biodiversity significance. Photo by: Stefan Heunis/AFP via Getty Images.
from www,gettyimages.com
Plants have evolved several ways to deal with heavy metals that might otherwise poison or kill them.
Wildfire smoke contains a mixture of toxic pollutants that can be harmful to both the lungs and the brain.
Bloomberg Creative/ Bloomberg Creative Photos via Getty Images
Pollution from more frequent floods and wildfires – exacerbated by the warming climate – is threatening human health and poses particular risks to the brain.
Like many marine species, oysters are affected by nanoplastics that pollute the oceans.
(Shutterstock)
Australia has failed to ratify an international treaty to reduce harmful mercury emissions. Mercury exposure can cause kidney damage and brain impairment, especially in children.
We must stop using biosolids for farmlands immediately, especially when alternative ways to recycle wastewater sludge already exist.
The January 2019 collapse of a dam in Brumadinho, Brazil, sent mining tailings and mud over the landscape for miles, destroying this bridge and killing 300 people.
Andre Penner/AP
Dams built to hold enormous quantities of toxic mining waste have a long history of spills. Decisions in the Pacific Northwest threaten three free-flowing rivers there.
Some supplement products contain substances that are harmful.
Getty Images / David Malan
Americans love their supplements, but some of the products are contaminated with heavy metals, bacteria and toxic fungi. The FDA has little control because of a law passed in 1994.
Water purification at a modern urban wastewater treatment plant involves removing undesirable chemicals, suspended solids and gases from contaminated water.
arhendrix/Shutterstock.com
The solids from wastewater plants are usually dumped into landfills because they are contaminated with heavy metals. Now there is a way to remove the metals so the waste can be used as fertilizer.
Professor of History and Director of the Center for the Study of Inequalities, Social Justice, and Policy, Stony Brook University (The State University of New York)