Deforestation Due to Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining Exacerbates Soil and Mercury Mobilization in Madre de Dios, Peru

Sediment Transport, Artisanal Gold Mining, and the Evaluation of Potential Mercury Contamination in Madre de Dios, Peru

River transport of mercury from artisanal and small-scale gold mining and risks for dietary mercury exposure in Madre de Dios, Peru.

Artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) is a major contributor to deforestation and the largest anthropogenic source of atmospheric mercury worldwide. Despite significant information on the direct health impacts of mercury to ASGM miners, the impact of mercury contamination on downstream communities has not been well characterized, particularly in Peru's Madre de Dios region. In this area,...

Mercury Levels in Human Hair and Farmed Fish near Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining Communities in the Madre de Dios River Basin, Peru

Artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) has been an important source of income for communities in the Madre de Dios River Basin in Peru for hundreds of years. However, in recent decades, the scale of ASGM activities in the region has increased dramatically, and exposures to a variety of occupational and environmental hazards related to ASGM, including mercury, are becoming more widespread....

Elevated Mercury Concentrations in Humans of Madre de Dios, Peru

The enormous increase in practically unregulated mining in Madre de Dios Peru is leading to massive release of liquid elemental mercury to the environment. Rapidly increasing global prices for gold are causing a massive upsurge in artisanal mining in the Peruvian Amazon, considered to be one of the most biodiverse places on the planet. This study identifies the current levels of mercury in the ...

COMMUNITY VULNERABILITY TO MALARIA IN MADRE DE DIOS, PERU by

Construction of a highway and artisanal gold mining have contributed to population and land use changes within the department of Madre de Dios, Peru. Such changes are expected to alter malaria rates due to impacts on vector habitat and human exposure. Vulnerability, as defined by the possibility of bereavement of a physical good or abstract state, is useful for understanding which communities a...