Mining tailings dam failures and human health: a scoping review of environmental exposure, potentially toxic elements, and epidemiological evidence, 2015–2025

Mining is essential for economic development; however, the increasing number of tailings dam failures has become a major environmental and public health concern. This review aimed to characterize mining tailings dam disasters reported worldwide between 2015 and 2025 and summarize the available evidence on their human health impacts. A scoping review was conducted using Web of Science, Scopus, MEDLINE, Google Scholar, and institutional sources institutional reports from World Information Service on Energy (WISE), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), GRID-Arendal, and World Health Organization (WHO). Each identified disaster was individually investigated to compile information on disaster characteristics, released tailings, mineral commodities, potentially toxic elements (PTEs), and available epidemiological evidence. A total of 670 deaths and 112 injuries were reported, while approximately 75 people were reported missing. At least 728 displaced people and 55 displaced families were also reported. Gold, copper, and jade were the mineral commodities most frequently involved, while arsenic, lead, mercury, manganese, and zinc were the most frequently reported PTEs in the tailings associated with these disasters. Despite the large number of disasters, only two incidents (Mariana and Brumadinho) have been investigated in population-based studies evaluating human health following the events, revealing a major global knowledge gap.