Health and Fitness

Yanomami: The health risks caused by the use of mercury in mining

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1 year ago

March 26, 2023

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Yanomami – When the subject is illegal mining, all the harm that can be generated as a result of this activity is analyzed. It is known that when it comes to illegal mining, the only certainty you have is that destruction is a sure thing.

Yanomami

Illegal mining to achieve the separation of gold from other sediments ends up using mercury and using mercury in excessive proportions, thus causing contamination of fish, degradation of rivers and forests and, consequently, the disappearance of animals.

And according to experts, all of this ends up being reflected in poverty and various diseases that plague populations in the affected regions, as in the case of the Yanomami.

_{Photo: Ministry of Indigenous Peoples Reproduction/Instagram}

Currently, the inhabitants of the Yanomami Indigenous Land, which lies between the states of Roraima and Amazonas, are experiencing a situation of public calamity and neglect, this fact gained national and international prominence in the first weeks of this year, when it was revealed after a authorities and representatives of the federal government.

Images of women, humans and children in a state of extreme malnutrition and plagued by diseases such as malaria and tungiasis (known as bicho de pé) gained national and international attention.

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These people are contaminated when methylmercury and mercury vapor enter the body, through consumption of contaminated fish or other animals or through mercury vapor when breathing it.

With this substance in the body, the central nervous system and the brain are affected, according to an expert. And the effects felt by the body include weakness, difficulty studying (concentration), tiredness, difficulty moving around, vision and hearing problems.

Bearing in mind that the use of mercury itself is allowed in industry and even in mines, as long as it is authorized by the National Mining Agency, that is, industries and legal mines make proper use of mercury.

“It is a compound legalized, regulated and monitored by the Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama) and by other competent bodies”, explains Ana Claudia Santiago de Vasconcellos, doctor in public health and researcher at the Polytechnic School of Health Joaquim Venâncio, from the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (EPSJV/Fiocruz).

In relation to pregnant women and babies, the excess of mercury in the body of these people, in addition to the problems already mentioned, can cause heart problems, in addition to the fact that for pregnant women this situation is extremely dangerous, even contaminating the child.

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“And it is much more vulnerable to the effects of methylmercury than the adult brain. For this reason, it is believed that some children are born with serious cognitive problems”, says the researcher.”

The Federal government has several measures in place to resolve the situation of illegal mining, however it is estimated that it will take 100 years for the disseminated metal to be eliminated, taking into account that mercury is a highly persistent pollutant.

For Zuleica Castilhos, one of the obstacles found to solve the problem is the underreporting of cases of mercury poisoning, according to specialists, who defend an effective system of notification of poisoning as a priority.

Featured photo: Apib Reproduction/Instagram

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