Peru: Water Supply Contamination (mercury)

One byproduct of gold mining, mercury, is an environmental menace as a pollutant to both air and water. “After fossil fuel burning, small-scale gold mining is the world’s second largest source of mercury pollution contributing around 1/3 of the world’s mercury pollution” (WWF, 2002). Mercury, which is used for its chemical properties to separate gold flakes from sediments, “is being released directly into waterways and sediments, and is carried to biological channels through methylation and subsequent bioaccumulation and magnification” (Swenson, 2011). It is not only a threat to water quality and human health, but is a dangerous toxin in fish. “Contact with water can convert metallic mercury into organic mercury, an even more dangerous toxin for its ability to move through the food chain”.
http://sites.duke.edu/biology217_01_s2011_srl17/contamination-to-peru%E2%80%99s-water-supply-from-illegal-gold-mining/