REDUCING MERCURY USE IN ARTISANAL AND SMALL-SCALE GOLD MINING

Millions of miners, infants, children, women of child bearing age (potentially pregnant),
and breast-feeding women, work or live in ASGM communities and are at risk of
mercury exposure. Pictured above is a man burning amalgam in front of children
and in a residential area. Many are unaware of the dangers. Simple cost effective
protocols are available, such as those of UNIDO (see annex 3), and can greatly lower
risk when followed.
Mercury vapors in the air around amalgam burning sites can be alarmingly high and
almost always exceed the WHO limit for public exposure of 1,000 nanogram/cubic
meter. This risks the health of workers but also those in the communities surrounding
the processing centers. Exposure to levels of mercury vapors above 1,200,000
nanogram/cubic meter can be fatal.
http://www.unep.org/hazardoussubstances/Portals/9/Mercury/Documents/ASGM/Techdoc/UNEP%20Tech%20Doc%20APRIL%202012_120619%20with%20links_web.pdf