Over 90 percent of indigenous communities in Brazil’s Amazon have been affected by mercury poisoning, according to a new study.
The joint study conducted by the Brazilian health foundation Fiocruz, the Hutukara Yanomami Association, the Yekuana Association, and the Brazilian NGO Socio-Environmental Institute tested hair samples from indigenous people in 19 different communities in one region of Brazil’s Amazon.
The results were stunning: up to 90 percent of them had been severely affected by mercury poisoning, according to researchers.
After alarmingly high levels of mercury were found in water and food sources of various indigenous people in the region, the study’s authors decided to take a closer look.
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