Mercury's Contribution to Environment is Far Greater than the Damage

Mercury is a rare metal discovered by ancient Egyptians in 1500 BC. Since then, many cultures have thought that it has supernatural power because it is liquid at room temperature. Contrary to the idea of ​​the ancients, mercury is very toxic, causing many diseases, and ultimately it may result in death. In spite of its toxicity, mercury has been very useful and has been used in many ways, to aid in mining gold from thermometers. Mercury is very precious because it has many uses.

Mining operations and smelters use toxic heavy metals such as mercury and contaminate the soil. Like pesticides, they are durable and can spread throughout the environment. In the case of humans, heavy metals destroy various internal organs, bones, nervous system. Many people can cause cancer. Solid waste is probably the most visible form of contamination. Every year, billions of tons of solid waste are processed. Industrial waste accounts for the majority of waste. Solid waste from homes, offices and shops is known as urban solid waste. It includes paper, plastic, bottles and cans, food debris and garden decorations. Other waste includes waste vehicles, waste metals, surplus material from the agricultural process, and mining waste known as waste.

Mining and refining of metals is the third most source of anthropogenic mercury emissions. The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) estimates that large-scale gold production accounts for 6 to 7% of the artificial mercury emissions, while mining and processing of other metals will further contribute 10% It is.

After burning fossil fuels, small scale gold mining is the second largest source of mercury contamination in the world, accounting for about one-third of the world's mercury pollution. According to the BBC, there are many social problems such as drug trafficking, tortured labor, child prostitution, etc. due to damage to this environment. Serapelada is a large gold mine located 430 km south of the Amazon River in Brazil. Founded in the 1980s, this gold mine is known for its corruption, has about 100,000 miners and is one of the world's largest mines. The picture taken by Sebastião Salgado captured this large-scale mining work. A large amount of mercury is released to the environment because of mining without large regulations. jpgC: \ Users \ enda \ Dropbox \ YEAR 4 \ Semester 8 \ Environmental Forensics \ Amazon Rain Forest \ Images \ salgado_serra_pelada.jpg