Mahidol University's Faculty of Environment and Resource Studies has defended its study on the impact of a gold mine in Phichit, saying the results disclosed by the mining operator are not yet complete.
The university's research team said yesterday it had worked with toxicologists to examine the blood and urine of villagers in the area for manganese and arsenic contamination after reports that the mine was proving toxic to workers and the environment.
They are comparing samples between villagers living near the mine and those living 25 kilometres away. The study includes an environmental assessment in communities surrounding the mine.
The main examination was performed last year on samples collected by Akara Resources Plc, the operator of the Chatree gold mine in Phichit. A secondary examination was conducted between Dec 16 last year and Jan 26 this year and the results have yet to be released, according to the university. "The results [disclosed by the company] are just those from the primary stage," the group said.
The university also suggested checks on the environmental impact of the mine should in future be done by neutral agencies.
The company asked Mahidol University to conduct the study on the impacts of the mine. The university spoke out after villagers living near the gold mine visited the university's Salaya campus yesterday to submit a letter demanding it disclose its study procedure and results.
The company claimed earlier the results found no excessive heavy metal contamination in the blood of mine workers.
Mahidol had tested the blood and urine samples taken from the 598 company staff working at the mine, it said.
The result contrasts with tests conducted in December by the Central Institute of Forensic Science led by the institute's director-general Khunying Porntip Rojanasunan.
The institute found excessive levels of arsenic and manganese in blood samples collected from villagers living around the mine. After the CIFS results were released, the Industry Ministry's Department of Primaries Industry and Mines ordered the mine to close temporarily to find the cause of the contamination.
A team from Rangsit University visited the villages surrounding the mine to collect soil, water and plant samples as well as urine and blood from villagers at the same time the CIFS collected samples.
Laksana Charoenchai, a researcher from Rangsit University's Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, revealed some of the results to the National Human Rights Commission yesterday.
It said the tests found plants, especially those growing in the water, had high levels of cadmium and manganese contamination.
Oranan Prommano, a researcher from the univeristy's Faculty of Medical Technology, said a micronucleus irregularity was found in 209 of 601 blood samples collected from villagers.