Illegal gold mining in the Amazon basin continuously releases highly toxic mercury, making it the world’s largest source of mercury pollution. Recent research in Peru’s Madre de Dios River basin reveals that predatory fish contain mercury levels 2.3 times higher than safe limits, threatening the health of indigenous communities that rely on fishing and hunting for survival. While the Mercury Capture System (MCS) developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) can reduce mercury emissions by 70% at gold processing facilities, illegal mining networks circumvent regulations through black market tactics like producing “counterfeit eco-bottles” from medical waste, significantly undermining remediation efforts.
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