High mercury levels in tropical birds in Americas blamed on gold mining

 Mercury is used in artisanal and small-scale gold mining operations to retrieve tiny flecks of gold in soil and sediment. Mercury binds to the gold to form an amalgam, and when the resulting nuggets are heated the mercury vapourises leaving behind just the gold. As a result of this process, mercury pollutes soil and waterways. This small-scale gold mining is estimated to account for almost 38% of global human-generated mercury pollution.

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