Miners bring mercury to their mining sites and use it to extract gold from the rocks. During the process, the mercury vaporizes, becoming airborne and finds its way into the water supply.
Biologists found that the fish in the area had exceptionally high levels of mercury in their flesh and the local people were being poisoned, not only by eating the tainted fish, but also possibly through direct exposure because tests of locks of the hair of local residents showed that the closer they were to the mines, the more mercury in their bodies.
Scientists continue to track the mining using Landsat data. Ecologists are using their research and the Landsat images to call for action by the Peruvian government.
Landsat looked and the world saw a health crisis years before it would have otherwise been discovered.
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