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Sunday, March 30, 2014

Nigerian gold mining: farmers choose death by lead poisoning over poverty

Flanked by fields of millet and groundnut, the northern Nigerian outpost of Bagega is so far out on the periphery of the global economy that when the financial crisis struck in 2008 few residents had any idea it was happening. And no one in a village without cars, electricity or tarred roads imagined it would end up indirectly poisoning hundreds of their children..............
 Glints of mercury, which is used to separate gold from its ore, is also highly toxic. The workers use their bare hands as they handle dangerous heavy metals.
http://marketspace.thinktosustain.com/2014/03/nigerian-gold-mining-farmers-choose-death-by-lead-poisoning-over-poverty/#.UzgIdc5zvEw

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