A gold rush sparked by record-setting prices has given rise to an army of small-scale miners who are the main source of mercury pollution in Peru. The precious metal is not normally found in sparkling nuggets as one may commonly imagine; it is embedded in rocks as small particles that are usually separated by combining mercury with the crushed ore, which forms and amalgam that is then boiled until the mercury evaporates and leaves behind gold. Nearly all the mercury turns to vapor that miners and their families inhale. The remainder ends up in rivers and streams. Some 300,000 Peruvian families whose livelihoods depend on artisanal mining, and countless more living as far as hundreds of kilometers downstream, are at risk of developing severe neurological disorders, miscarriages, congenital disease and other maladies. Mercury accumulates on the tissues of organisms and builds up at higher concentrations as it travels up the food chain, endangering entire ecosystems.
http://www.iaf.gov/Home/Components/News/News/676/2521
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