mercury

Illegal Artisanal Mining Threatens Amazon Jungle and Indigenous Peoples in Brazil

Artisanal mining, or "garimpo" as it is known in Brazil, has returned to the headlines as a factor in the deaths of Yanomami indigenous people, whose territory in the extreme north of Brazil suffers constant encroachment by miners, which has intensified in recent years.

Over Two Decades of Impunity for Environmental and Health Disaster in Peruvian Village

"We are not asking for money, but for our health, for a dignified life," is the cry of the people of Choropampa, which lawyer Milagros Pérez continually hears 22 years after the environmental disaster that occurred in this town in the department of Cajamarca, in Peru´s northern Andes highlands, on the afternoon of Jun. 2, 2000.

Mercury Mining Awaits International Control in Mexico

For environmentalist Patricia Ruiz the only word that comes to mind is “devastating,” when describing the situation of mercury mining in her home state of Querétaro in central Mexico.

Africa Drives Global Action Against Mercury Use

With a new international treaty, an increasing number of African countries are committing to phasing out mercury, a significant health and environmental hazard.

Developing Nations Write Hopeful New Chapters in a Toxic Legacy

The village of Dong Mai in Vietnam's agricultural heartland had a serious problem.

Treaty Poised to Cut Toxic Mercury Pollution

A new international convention opening for signatures this week will for the first time offer an agreed-upon roadmap by which to significantly decrease the global use of mercury while offering stronger safeguards for both human health and the environment.

Toxic Waste on Par with Malaria as a Global Killer

Toxic waste sites in 31 countries are damaging the brains of nearly 800,000 children and impairing the health of millions of people in the developing world, two new studies have found.

Uruguayan diplomat Fernando Lugris chairing the Minamata Convention on Mercury negotiations. Credit: Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores de Uruguay

Q&A: New Binding Treaty on Mercury Emissions is “Ambitious”

The international community has adopted a binding treaty for reducing emissions of mercury, a poisonous heavy metal that harms human health and the ecosystems on which life depends.

Mexico Tearing Its Hair Out Over Mercury

The Coatzacoalcos river basin in southern Mexico is so polluted that you can sense the mercury in the air, feel it and breathe it, and the population living in the area is only too aware of its undesirable neighbours: refineries and petrochemical complexes that emit this toxic element into the air and water.

Treaty “Insufficient” to Reduce Global Mercury Levels

Even as government negotiators from around the world prepare to gather next week for a final round of talks on a new international treaty limiting the use of mercury, scientists and activists are warning that the draft treaty is both too weak and too limited in scope to have a major impact.

Guyana Seeks to Shield Gold Miners from Mercury Ban

As regional delegates meet to discuss a legally binding ban on the use of mercury this week, Guyanese officials are arguing that an exception should be made for the South American country's lucrative gold mining sector until an acceptable alternative is found.



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