IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v22y2025i5p692-d1643653.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Socio-Environmental Impact in the Adjacent Settlements of a Former Foundry

Author

Listed:
  • Griselda Vázquez-Quintero

    (Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, Autonomous University of Chihuahua, Pascual Orozco Avenue s/n, Campus I, Chihuahua 31200, Chihuahua, Mexico)

  • Daniel Lira-Hernández

    (Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, Autonomous University of Chihuahua, Pascual Orozco Avenue s/n, Campus I, Chihuahua 31200, Chihuahua, Mexico)

  • César Damián Pérez-Olmos

    (Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, Autonomous University of Chihuahua, Pascual Orozco Avenue s/n, Campus I, Chihuahua 31200, Chihuahua, Mexico)

  • María Cecilia Valles-Aragón

    (Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, Autonomous University of Chihuahua, Pascual Orozco Avenue s/n, Campus I, Chihuahua 31200, Chihuahua, Mexico)

  • Leonor Cortes-Palacios

    (Faculty of Zootechnic and Ecology, Autonomous University of Chihuahua, Periférico Francisco R. Almada Km 1, Chihuahua 31453, Chihuahua, Mexico)

  • César Guillermo García-González

    (Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, Autonomous University of Chihuahua, Pascual Orozco Avenue s/n, Campus I, Chihuahua 31200, Chihuahua, Mexico)

  • Ireyli Zuluamy Iracheta-Lara

    (Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, Autonomous University of Chihuahua, Pascual Orozco Avenue s/n, Campus I, Chihuahua 31200, Chihuahua, Mexico)

  • Myrna Concepción Nevárez-Rodríguez

    (Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, Autonomous University of Chihuahua, Pascual Orozco Avenue s/n, Campus I, Chihuahua 31200, Chihuahua, Mexico)

  • Gilberto Sandino Aquino-de los Ríos

    (Faculty of Zootechnic and Ecology, Autonomous University of Chihuahua, Periférico Francisco R. Almada Km 1, Chihuahua 31453, Chihuahua, Mexico)

Abstract

Mining has caused major pollution, especially in poorly regulated areas. The former Ávalos Foundry in Chihuahua, Mexico left toxic contamination after its closure in 1997, affecting the nearby settlements. This study examines the socio-environmental impact on residents adjacent to the site. A total of 5773 dwellings were considered, with 4634 inhabited by 14,187 persons. A survey to 465 residents assessed sociodemographic aspects, environmental perceptions, and disposition to community participation. Tap water samples from 70 homes were analyzed for metals and compared to Mexican, American and European regulatory standards. Water pollutant dispersion was modeled using ArcGIS interpolation. Residents face economic, social, environmental, and health issues from ongoing contamination. Several suffer respiratory and skin diseases linked to excessive dust from the proximity to mining waste and unpaved streets. While the majority consider their lives comfortable or very comfortable, many would not have moved there if aware of the risks before moving. Despite concerns, most residents are reluctant to engage in community efforts to address the pollution. Tap water tests revealed levels above the regulatory standards of arsenic, copper, chromium, iron, manganese, and nickel, posing serious health risks. This study calls for immediate action, including awareness and health campaigns, environmental remediation, and intersectoral collaboration to secure funding for long-term solutions.

Suggested Citation

  • Griselda Vázquez-Quintero & Daniel Lira-Hernández & César Damián Pérez-Olmos & María Cecilia Valles-Aragón & Leonor Cortes-Palacios & César Guillermo García-González & Ireyli Zuluamy Iracheta-Lara & M, 2025. "The Socio-Environmental Impact in the Adjacent Settlements of a Former Foundry," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 22(5), pages 1-33, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:22:y:2025:i:5:p:692-:d:1643653
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/22/5/692/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/22/5/692/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gisela Wachinger & Ortwin Renn & Chloe Begg & Christian Kuhlicke, 2013. "The Risk Perception Paradox—Implications for Governance and Communication of Natural Hazards," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 33(6), pages 1049-1065, June.
    2. Hanna-Attisha, M. & LaChance, J. & Sadler, R.C. & Schnepp, A.C., 2016. "Elevated blood lead levels in children associated with the flint drinking water crisis: A spatial analysis of risk and public health response," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 106(2), pages 283-290.
    3. Minhaz Farid Ahmed & Mazlin Bin Mokhtar, 2020. "Assessing Cadmium and Chromium Concentrations in Drinking Water to Predict Health Risk in Malaysia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(8), pages 1-23, April.
    4. Lauren Wyatt & Ernesto J. Ortiz & Beth Feingold & Axel Berky & Sarah Diringer & Ana Maria Morales & Elvis Rojas Jurado & Heileen Hsu-Kim & William Pan, 2017. "Spatial, Temporal, and Dietary Variables Associated with Elevated Mercury Exposure in Peruvian Riverine Communities Upstream and Downstream of Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-23, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sisira S. Withanachchi & Ilia Kunchulia & Giorgi Ghambashidze & Rami Al Sidawi & Teo Urushadze & Angelika Ploeger, 2018. "Farmers’ Perception of Water Quality and Risks in the Mashavera River Basin, Georgia: Analyzing the Vulnerability of the Social-Ecological System through Community Perceptions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-26, August.
    2. Rieger-Fels, Markus, 2025. "Climate risk perceptions of businesses: The role of experience and objective risk factors," Working Papers 01/25, Institut für Mittelstandsforschung (IfM) Bonn.
    3. Ling Jia & Queena K. Qian & Frits Meijer & Henk Visscher, 2020. "Stakeholders’ Risk Perception: A Perspective for Proactive Risk Management in Residential Building Energy Retrofits in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-25, April.
    4. Jones, Lindsey & d'Errico, Marco, 2019. "Whose resilience matters? Like-for-like comparison of objective and subjective evaluations of resilience," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 1-1.
    5. Huang, Yi, 2021. "Salience of hazard disclosure and house prices: Evidence from Christchurch, New Zealand," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    6. Gisela Wachinger & Ortwin Renn & Sarah-Kristina Wist & Sinika-Marie Steinhilber & Ulrike Triemer, 2014. "Using participation to create resilience: how to involve citizens in designing a hospital system?," Environment Systems and Decisions, Springer, vol. 34(2), pages 208-223, June.
    7. H.M. Tuihedur Rahman & Gordon M. Hickey, 2020. "An Analytical Framework for Assessing Context-Specific Rural Livelihood Vulnerability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(14), pages 1-26, July.
    8. Yuzuka KASHIWAGI & Yasuyuki TODO, 2022. "Trade Disruption and Risk Perception," Discussion papers 22086, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    9. Rama Natarajan & Dana Aljaber & Dawn Au & Christine Thai & Angelica Sanchez & Alan Nunez & Cristal Resto & Tanya Chavez & Marta M. Jankowska & Tarik Benmarhnia & Jiue-An Yang & Veronica Jones & Jernej, 2020. "Environmental Exposures during Puberty: Window of Breast Cancer Risk and Epigenetic Damage," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(2), pages 1-17, January.
    10. Tianlong Yu & Hao Yang & Xiaowei Luo & Yifeng Jiang & Xiang Wu & Jingqi Gao, 2021. "Scientometric Analysis of Disaster Risk Perception: 2000–2020," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(24), pages 1-19, December.
    11. Emily J Wilkins & Holly M Miller & Elizabeth Tilak & Rudy M Schuster, 2018. "Communicating information on nature-related topics: Preferred information channels and trust in sources," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(12), pages 1-17, December.
    12. S. A. Mashi & A. I. Inkani & Oghenejeabor Obaro & A. S. Asanarimam, 2020. "Community perception, response and adaptation strategies towards flood risk in a traditional African city," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 103(2), pages 1727-1759, September.
    13. Shuolin Geng & Qi Zhou & Mingjie Li & Dianxing Song & Yanjun Wen, 2021. "Spatial–temporal differences in disaster perception and response among new media users and the influence factors: a case study of the Shouguang Flood in Shandong province," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 105(2), pages 2241-2262, January.
    14. Yang, Ya Ling, 2020. "Comparison of public perception and risk management decisions of aircraft noise near Taoyuan and Kaohsiung International Airports," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    15. aus dem Moore, Nils & Brehm, Johannes & Breidenbach, Philipp & Ghosh, Arijit & Gruhl, Henri, 2022. "Flood risk perception after indirect flooding experience: Null results in the German housing market," Ruhr Economic Papers 976, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    16. Kunwar, Samrat B. & Khatiwada, Niraj & Rahman, Mohammad Mashiur & Liu, Menqui & Thapa, Swati & Bohara, Alok K. & Wang, Jingjing, 2023. "Reimagining Teaching Water Issues through Experiential Learning," Applied Economics Teaching Resources (AETR), Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 5(3), September.
    17. Kevin Fox Gotham & Richard Campanella & Katie Lauve‐Moon & Bradford Powers, 2018. "Hazard Experience, Geophysical Vulnerability, and Flood Risk Perceptions in a Postdisaster City, the Case of New Orleans," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 38(2), pages 345-356, February.
    18. Fateh Mamine & Noure El Imène Boumali & Etienne Montaigne, 2020. "Why Farmers Adopt Agro-Industrial By-Products in Animal Feed? Lesson Learned in Algerian Case," Post-Print hal-02966547, HAL.
    19. Jason A. Hubbart & Kaylyn S. Gootman, 2021. "A Call to Broaden Investment in Drinking Water Testing and Community Outreach Programs," Challenges, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-10, December.
    20. Meiyan Gao & Zongmin Wang & Haibo Yang, 2022. "Review of Urban Flood Resilience: Insights from Scientometric and Systematic Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(14), pages 1-19, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:22:y:2025:i:5:p:692-:d:1643653. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.