Mercury contamination

According to a study, Birds living within vicinity of gold mining were found to have over 4 times higher mercury concentrations than those living at other sites across the tropics of Central and South America.

Mercury contamination – It is global as mercury emissions disperse widely in the atmosphere. They are

- Highly toxic to the nervous system.
- Persistent in the environment.
- Bioaccumulates (higher concentrations in tissues of aquatic plants and animals than in water).
- Biomagnifies (higher concentrations at increasingly higher levels in the food chain).

According to World Health Organization (WHO), mercury is one of the top 10 chemicals or groups of chemicals of major public health concern.

Mercury pollution – It is emitted by natural sources like volcanoes, geothermal springs, geologic deposits, and the ocean.
Human-related sources primarily include coal combustion, waste incineration, industrial uses, and mining.

During the last 150 years, human activities have more than doubled natural amounts of mercury in the atmosphere.

Complications – It cause neurological illness, immune diseases and reproductive failure in humans and some birds.
Mercury poisoning leads to Minamata disease.
Measures – Minamata Convention is a global treaty to protect from the adverse effects of mercury and its compounds.
Phytoremediation, allows plants to absorb and accumulate mercury from soil, water, or sediments.
The planet GOLD program, led by UNEP seeks to eliminate mercury from artisanal gold mining.

Mercury (Hg) is also known as ‘quicksilver’, is the only elemental metal that is liquid at room temperature which is used by gold miners to separate the precious metal from sediment.

In 2023, for the 1^st time, scientists observed that mammals were showing signs of mercury contamination near a Peruvian gold mining hotspot.

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