The gold rush in the Amazon region is creating serious environmental problems that imperil future generations. Mercury pollution is a particularly serious problem that should be addressed through an education campaign, through the use of more appropriate (and inexpensive) extraction technologies, and through an effective combination of command and control measures and market- based incentives.

Due to its inherent characteristics, mercury contamination from gold mining is a major environmental problem compared to past mercury contamination from industrial point sources. The worsening of social-economical conditions and increasing gold prices in the late 1970s resulted in a new rush for gold by individual entrepreneurs for whom Hg amalgamation is a cheap and easily carried out operation. Even after the present-day mining areas are exhausted, the mercury left behind will remain part of the biochemical cycle of the tropical forest. This book reviews the current information on mercury from gold mining, its cycling in the environment and its long-term ecotoxicological impact. The book is illustrated with numerous diagrams and photographs.

Based on studies from countries in Africa, South America and Asia, looks at small-scale mining activities which often are both illegal and environmentally damaging, and dangerous for workers and their communities. Gives an overview on the issues and challenges involved, concluding about how sustainable development can be achieved.

The purpose of this book is to examine both the positive and negative socioeconomic impacts of artisanal and small-scale mining in developing countries. In recent years, a number of governments have attempted to formalize this rudimentary sector of industry, recognizing its socioeconomic importance. However, the industry continues to be plagued by

"Mercury deposition and contamination is widespread and well documented, and it continues to be a public-health concern for certain sectors of the global human population in both developed and developing countries. This edited volume focuses on integrating the diverse sciences involved in the process of mercury cycling in the environment--from the atmosphere, through terrestrial and aquatic food webs, and human populations--to develop a comprehensive perspective on this important environmental pollutant. Using a systems-level approach, this book provides recommendations on mercury remediation, risk communication, education, and monitoring. In response to a growing need for understanding the cycling of this ubiquitous pollutant, the science of mercury has grown rapidly, expanding into several interdisciplinary fields and encompassing such disparate academic and scientific disciplines as biogeochemistry, economics, sociology, public health, decision sciences, physics, global change, and mathematics. Only recently have scientists really begun to establish more holistic approaches to studying mercury pollution, giving rise to investigations that have furthered the integration of a multi-tiered approach, especially by using chemistry, biology, and human health sciences collectively. The study of mercury pollution has produced a variety of contributions to domestic and international policies related to the management of mercury in the environment"-- Provided by publisher.