An innovative research is on the verge of confirming a direct cause factor between mercury (in the form of illegal gold mining) and severe neurological diseases in Indigenous infants and an emerging humanitarian crisis in the largest rainforest in the world.
As reported by Reuters, the Munduruku Indigenous Territory has reported a rapid increase in the cases of disabilities in infants in communities that are being encircled by illegal gold mines.
A preliminary analysis of a multi-year study at the largest government research institution, Fiocruz, in Brazil highlights that she is one of at least 36 individuals, most of whom are children, with unexplained neurological disorders.
Mercury, which is used by the miners to cement the gold particles, is described as a suspected cause of such rare neurological disorders.
The poisonous metal gets into rivers and accumulates in fishes which ultimately becomes part of the food chain and then gets transferred by the placenta and breast milk to the babies at levels often three to five times the hazardous threshold.
“Breast milk is no longer reliable,” said Alessandra Korap, a Munduruku leader.
In the case of most of the families, the contamination poses an impossible choice. Chief Zildomar Munduruku, who is also a nurse, stated, “If we obey their rules (to not eat fish), we will go hungry.”
The crisis will also be a matter of attention for world leaders as the COP30 climate commit is set to take place in Amazon in November, 2025.
While President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has taken measures to put and to mining, the damage has already been done.
Adding to this, Paulo Basta, a senior Fiocruz researcher, stated, “Even if gold mining in the Amazon came to a complete stop, the mercury that was deposited would remain for many more decades.”
The link between mercury and disabilities in babies has been difficult, since mercury does not leave a distinct “signature.”
However, scientists are currently tracking 176 pregnant women to have their babies tested, in the hope that researchers would finally be able to give the missing link that would prove wrong the shocking effects of mining on the youngest generation of Amazon.