Modern miners may be putting themselves at risk by trying to recover gold from mercury-heavy sediments on the sea floor, said Ali Hamade, a state environmental public health manager. A century ago, it was common for miners in Nome to use mercury to recover gold. The gold was extracted while the mercury was left behind.
"Now when people look for gold, they could find mercury with it," he said, adding that mercury introduced into the environment from the early 20th century gold rush has sunk down as deep as bedrock and that digging might release the toxic metal.
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