Mining Chemical Exposures on Health & Environment Impact: A Global Scoping Review

Abstract

Mining activities drive economic development, but release toxic chemicals threatening human and environmental health. Despite growing research, comprehensive evidence synthesis linking mining exposures to health outcomes across contexts remains limited. This scoping review assessed how chemical exposures from mining operations affect human health and the environment, identifying research gaps to inform evidence-based policies. The findings indicate aspects such as the concentration of the research in high-income economies, while low-income regions bearing mining's heaviest burdens remain severely understudied. Research concentrates on toxic metals through ingestion and inhalation routes, emphasising cancer, neurological, and respiratory outcomes. Gaps emerge on renal and reproductive effects, which seem to receive less attention despite evidence of metal-induced impacts; dermal pathways of contamination also remain underexplored. These findings highlight a call for research in underrepresented regions and neglected health outcomes, and integrated approaches linking environmental surveillance to public health interventions for sustainable mining practices.