In my book ‘Malaria is spread by mosquitos?’ I made the point that even within the vast quantity of peer reviewed research focusing on supporting the conventional mosquito-plasmodium narrative there are hints to what might really be causing the illness. And one reference this week in Malaria World is an example – ‘Close Proximity to Mining Is Associated with Increased Prevalence of the Drug Resistance-Associated Mutation dhps540E in Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo’ by Mitchell et al. Images of children mining for cobalt for electric car batteries in the Congo came to mind. Unfortunately, the article is behind a paywall. Clearly its hypothesis, supporting the consensus cause, is that mining somehow lessens the effectiveness of the old standby drug, sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine, for treating malaria. But could the real cause be exposure to toxins from mining – heavy metals, chemicals and particulates? Mining has always been known to cause illnesses.
So, I searched the terms malaria and mining and a long list of peer reviewed literature emerged. As with the first article that piqued my attention many were behind paywalls. However, one ‘Nature’ open access article ‘Risk factors of malaria transmission in mining workers in Muara Enim, South Sumatra, Indonesia’ by Hasyim et al had interesting background references that indicate a link between increased prevalence of malaria and mining activities in Africa and South America as well as Asia. The major finding of this research revealed that smallholder mining areas were risky areas for malaria transmission. The study foci themselves are of less interest – the usual statistical effort to justify nets, internal insecticide spraying and mosquito repellent. Somehow the ‘elephant in the room’, the exposure to toxins and particulates that are part of the mining process escapes considered attention.