The study, “Amazon Forests Capture High Levels of Atmospheric Mercury Pollution From Artisanal Gold Mining,” appears Jan. 28 in the journal Nature Communications. The research study was led by Jacqueline R. Gerson, a Ph.D. candidate at Duke University. Wake Forest Biology Professor Miles Silman and Wake Forest Research Professor Luis Fernandez mentored Gerson’s work at the Center for Amazonian Scientific Innovation (CINCIA) in Peru. The study sheds further light on gold mining activities in the Amazon rainforest that have caused exceptionally high levels of mercury pollution in the old-growth rainforest near the mining sites.
What this study found was that the wildest forests left on earth are capturing mercury released by artisanal mining, and at superfund-site levels. The wildlife and humans that live within these wild forests are poisoned as well, with effects that we are just beginning to understand.
Miles Silman, WFU Professor and Andrew Sabin Presidential Chair of Conservation Biology and Director of Wake Forest’s Center for Energy, Environment and Sustainability.
The article in Nature: Amazon forests capture high levels of atmospheric mercury pollution from artisanal gold mining
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-27997-3
The WFU News Service reporter Cheryl Walker’s article “Amazon forests poisoned by mercury from gold mining” does a concise and accurate summary.
Other Citations of the Study
The study has made headlines in New York Times, Scientific American, and The Hill.
New York Times
Alarming Levels of Mercury Are Found in Old Growth Amazon Forest
The findings, related to gold mining in Peru, provide new evidence of how people are altering ecosystems in dangerous ways around the world.
Scientific American
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/gold-mining-is-poisoning-amazon-forests-with-mercury
The Hill