How to Help Stop Illegal Gold Mining

These mining operations are small—“artisanal” in industry lingo—but the impact is huge, as the miners use toxic mercury to separate gold from other minerals. The mercury washes into rivers and streams, killing aquatic life. That mercury also accumulates in the bodies of fish eaten by humans.
The Amazon rainforest in southeastern Peru, for instance, has been invaded by an estimated 30,000 miners, according to the Amazon Conservation Association, a Washington, D.C.–based nonprofit. Research funded by the group found that nine of 15 fish species consumed by people in the area contained mercury that exceeded safety limits established by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. Researchers also detected high mercury levels in 78 percent of the residents of the region’s capital.
http://www.takepart.com/video/2014/09/01/how-help-stop-illegal-gold-mining