New analysis maps mercury threat to 951 Amazon communities in three countries

A Mongabay Latam review of 39 scientific studies published between 1997 and 2024 found 249 Indigenous and riverside communities along the Madeira, Beni, and Madre de Dios rivers have been exposed to mercury contamination, with 88% exceeding WHO safety limits. Another 702 communities are classified as at risk, bringing the total to 951 communities across Peru, Bolivia, and Brazil.

The contamination stems from illegal gold mining, which dumped mercury into rivers to separate gold from sediment; the metal then moves up the food chain into fish that communities depend on for survival. Mining has destroyed more than 95,000 hectares of forest in the Madre de Dios basin alone over 27 years, an area comparable to urban Lima, with tens of thousands more hectares lost in the Beni and Madeira basins.

Residents interviewed described unexplained illnesses, including children with breathing and heart problems and a case of a young girl fainting at school, with no clear medical answers. A Peruvian Indigenous federation leader called the contamination a silent genocide against Indigenous peoples.

The full dispatch is available from the source below.