June 22, 2020
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Multi-pathway human exposure risk assessment using Bayesian modeling at the historically largest mercury mining district

Publicated to: ECOTOXICOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY. 201 (110833): 110833- - 2020-09-15 201(110833), DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2020.110833

Authors:

Jimenez-Oyola, Samantha; Garcia-Martinez, Maria-Jesus; Ortega, Marcelo F; Bolonio, David; Rodriguez, Clara; Esbri, Jose-Maria; Llamas, Juan F; Higueras, Pablo
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Affiliations

Escuela Superior Politecnica del Litoral Ecuador - Author
Escuela Tecnica Superior de Ingenieros de Minas de Madrid - Author
ESPOL, Escuela Super Politecn Litoral, Fac Ingn Ciencias Tierra, Campus Gustavo Galindo,Km 30-5 Via Perimetral, Guayaquil 5863, Ecuador - Author
Univ Castilla La Mancha, Escuela Univ Politecn Almaden, Dept Geol & Min Engn, Plaza Manuel Meca, Ciudad Real 13400, Spain - Author
Univ Politecn Madrid, ETS Ingn Minas & Energia, Dept Energy & Fuels, Rios Rosas 21, Madrid 28003, Spain - Author
Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha - Author
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Abstract

© 2020 Elsevier Inc. The largest mercury (Hg) mining district in the world is located in Almadén (Spain), with well-known environmental impacts in the surrounding ecosystem. However, the impact of mercury on the health of the inhabitants of this area has not been documented accordingly. This study aims to carry out a probabilistic human health risk assessment using Bayesian modeling to estimate the non-carcinogenic risk related to Hg through multiple exposure pathways. Samples of vegetables, wild mushrooms, fish, soil, water, and air were analyzed, and adult residents were randomly surveyed to adjust the risk models to the specific population data. On the one hand, the results for the non-carcinogenic risk based on Hazard Quotient (HQ) showed unacceptable risk levels through ingestion of Hg-contaminated vegetables and fish, with HQ values 20 and 3 times higher, respectively, than the safe exposure threshold of 1 for the 97.5th percentile. On the other hand, ingestion of mushrooms, dermal contact with soil, ingestion of water, dermal contact with water and inhalation of air, were below the safety limit for the 97.5th percentile, and did not represent a risk to the health of residents. In addition, the probabilistic approach was compared with the conservative deterministic approach, and similar results were obtained. This is the first study conducted in Almadén, which clearly reveals the high levels of human health risk to which the population is exposed due to the legacy of two millennia of Hg mining.
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Keywords

bayesian approachhazard quotienthuman health riskmercury pollutionAdultAgaricalesAirAlmadenAnimalsAreaBayes theoremBayesian approachContaminationEcosystemEdible mushroomsEnvironmental exposureEnvironmental pollutantsFishesHazard quotientHealth-riskHuman health riskHumansMercuryMercury pollutionMetal pollutionMineMiningProbabilistic riskRandom allocationRisk assessmentSoilSoilsSpainVegetablesWater

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal ECOTOXICOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency WoS (JCR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2020, it was in position 8/93, thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Toxicology. Notably, the journal is positioned above the 90th percentile.

From a relative perspective, and based on the normalized impact indicator calculated from World Citations provided by WoS (ESI, Clarivate), it yields a value for the citation normalization relative to the expected citation rate of: 1.52. This indicates that, compared to works in the same discipline and in the same year of publication, it ranks as a work cited above average. (source consulted: ESI Nov 13, 2025)

This information is reinforced by other indicators of the same type, which, although dynamic over time and dependent on the set of average global citations at the time of their calculation, consistently position the work at some point among the top 50% most cited in its field:

  • Weighted Average of Normalized Impact by the Scopus agency: 1.16 (source consulted: FECYT Mar 2025)

Specifically, and according to different indexing agencies, this work has accumulated citations as of 2026-04-27, the following number of citations:

  • WoS: 27
  • Scopus: 32
  • Europe PMC: 6
  • Google Scholar: 38
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Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2026-04-27:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 72.

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 12.
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 15 (Altmetric).

It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

  • Assignment of a Handle/URN as an identifier within the deposit in the Institutional Repository: https://oa.upm.es/86707/

As a result of the publication of the work in the institutional repository, statistical usage data has been obtained that reflects its impact. In terms of dissemination, we can state that, as of

  • Views: 140
  • Downloads: 1
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Leadership analysis of institutional authors

This work has been carried out with international collaboration, specifically with researchers from: Ecuador.

There is a significant leadership presence as some of the institution’s authors appear as the first or last signer, detailed as follows: First Author (Jiménez-Oyola S) .

the author responsible for correspondence tasks has been GARCIA MARTINEZ, MARIA JESUS.

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