488 Mining and Health
Mercury poisoning
When artisinal miners process silver or gold ore, they often mix the ore
with mercury to make a soft substance called amalgam. When burned off
to collect the gold, the mercury turns to a gas that can be breathed in by
anyone nearby. Mercury can also become a gas if it is spilled or left in an
open container. Breathing in mercury fumes is very dangerous. Mercury is
also dangerous if it is absorbed through the skin or eaten when it passes from
someone’s hands to food (see page 338).
Some signs of mercury poisoning are easy to confuse with malaria. If you
live in a gold mining community and malaria medicine does not seem to
work, talk to a health worker about the possibility of mercury poisoning.
Mercury poisons the environment by settling into the water and soil,
where it can remain for many years. Lakes and rivers in California, USA,
are still poisoned by mercury from gold mining over 100 years ago. (To learn
more about mercury poisoning in water and fish, see page 339.)
The mercury poisons us
and the children. Can’t
we stop using it?
But this is the
only way to
recover the gold.
There is a way to cover the
pan and recover the mercury
to use again. It would be
safer and save money too.
A Community Guide to Environmental Health 2012