Spatial Analysis to Examine Links between Copper Mine Pollution and Asthma

Keywords: Health, Mining, heavy metals, Utah, PM2.5, Soil, Asthma
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Saturday
Session Start / End Time: 2/26/2022 02:00 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/26/2022 03:20 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 20

Abstract

Bingham Canyon Open Pit Copper Mine near Salt Lake City, Utah is the largest man-made excavation (7.7 km2) and the deepest open pit mine in the world1. It operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year contributing 4.4% of the PM2.5 pollution in the Salt Lake Valley2. Its contributions to larger-sized particulate matter (PM10) dust, water body contamination, land contamination and occupational exposure risks are largely unknown. Larger particulates produced by mines are less likely to be inhaled deep into the lungs than PM2.5 and tend to travel shorter distances from point sources but dust from mines can contain toxic heavy metals which can have severe health effects. A study around a mine in Chile suggested that mine dust only influenced pediatric respiratory health within 1-2 km, however, a Utah atmospheric deposition study found significantly elevated copper concentrations within 50-100 km of the Bingham mine compared to a location 180 km away4. This suggests a potentially large sphere of influence of the Bingham copper mine due to its vast size. Spatial analysis of asthma hospitalizations (2016-2018) for Utah Small Areas (n=99) identified a significant (p<0.05) cluster in the populated areas closest to the copper mine. Examination of aerosol optical depth data from Sentinel 2 imagery from dry, windy days in the summer suggested that the dust cloud associated with the mine was 7-8km in diameter and didn’t seem to influence any heavily populated areas. However, topsoil heavy metals showed elevated concentrations in the areas with high asthma hospitalization rates.