After documenting the daily routine of several families, they wondered why the government is allowing the practice of compressor mining, which involves diving into murky pits while sucking air from a hose connected to an air compressor. The air they breathe while underwater is often polluted with oil and gas, causing breathing problems.
More dangerous is the children’s direct exposure to mercury, which they mash with bare hands into the gold-sand mixture before the mixture is torched to burn off the mercury. The Philippines has signed, but has yet to ratify the Minamata Convention on Mercury, a global treaty to protect human health and the environment from the adverse effects of mercury.
http://www.mb.com.ph/children-gold-mines-and-an-emmy/
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