Gold mining spreads mercury to tropical birds, examine says

LONDON, Nov 1 (Reuters) – Tropical birds, from kingfishers to wrens to warblers, are displaying indicators of mercury contamination as artisanal and small-scale gold mining operations attain deeper into jungles, new analysis finds.

Birds dwelling inside 7 km (4 miles) of such gold mining exercise have been discovered to have mercury concentrations over 4 occasions larger than these dwelling at different websites throughout the tropics of Central and South America, in line with the study printed Tuesday within the journal Ecotoxicology.

“It’s a wake-up name for fowl conservation internationally throughout the tropics,” stated lead writer Chris Sayers, a conservation biologist on the University of California Los Angeles.

Tropical fowl biodiversity has been decliningin recent many years, however scientists are usually not totally positive why. “Based on the degrees right here, it is affordable to counsel that mercury could also be enjoying a task,” Sayers stated.

Over a 17-year interval ending in 2023, dozens of scientists collected 1000’s of feather, blood and tissue samples from 322 fowl species throughout 9 nations in Central and South America and the West Indies, creating the world’s largest database up to now on mercury concentrations in birds.

The analysis provides to a rising understanding of how mercury, which is utilized by gold miners to separate the dear metallic from sediment, is impacting wildlife within the tropics.

Artisanal gold mining is commonly both carried out illegally in protected areas, or performed informally outdoors reserves however with out specific authorities permission.

Earlier this yr, Reuters reported for the primary time that scientists have been discovering mammals, from titi monkeys to ocelots, displaying indicators of mercury contamination close to a Peruvian gold mining hotspot.

Absorbing or ingesting mercury-contaminated water or meals has been discovered to trigger neurological sickness, immune ailments and reproductive failure in people and a few birds.

Birds are the “canary within the gold mine,” Sayers stated, as they’re delicate to mercury air pollution and simply accessible, permitting scientists to take the temperature of general ecosystem well being.

The collected samples revealed among the highest-ever recorded mercury concentrations in songbirds. Birds that ate meat or lived in aquatic habitats have been additionally discovered to have the best general mercury ranges.

Hotspots for mercury contamination included Madre de Dios, Peru, and Ayapel, Colombia – centres of artisanal gold mining.

Birds in central Belize additionally had excessive mercury concentrations, with scientists speculating it might be attributable to gaseous mercury emissions from native landfill incineration, or coal combustion within the surrounding area.

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Gloria Dickie reviews on local weather and environmental points for Reuters. She relies in London. Her pursuits embrace biodiversity loss, Arctic science, the cryosphere, worldwide local weather diplomacy, local weather change and public well being, and human-wildlife battle. She beforehand labored as a contract environmental journalist for 7 years, writing for publications such because the New York Times, the Guardian, Scientific American, and Wired journal. Dickie was a 2022 finalist for the Livingston Awards for Young Journalists within the worldwide reporting class for her local weather reporting from Svalbard. She can also be an writer at W.W. Norton.

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