Mercury from gold processing has poisoned the surrounding Madre de Dios region. In May, the government declared a health emergency across three provinces because of the roughly 40 tons of mercury dumped into the region’s rivers by miners every year, writes Colin Post at Peru Reports. Health officials found more than 40 percent of residents in 97 villages in the area suffered from heavy-metal poisoning. Daley reports. The miners also cut down about 250,000 acres of forest each year, and create lawless zones where human slavery and sex trafficking take place.
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/peru-cracks-down-on-illegal-gold-miners-180959954/?no-ist
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