"Mercury poisoning in Peru's Amazon threatens health disaster", 20 June 2025

...Indigenous and riverine communities in the Loreto region of the Peruvian Amazon have "chronic exposure" to mercury, according to a new study by the Center for Amazonian Scientific Innovation at Wake Forest University in the United States.

The test results released this month show nearly 80% of the people tested late last year had levels of mercury far above the safe limits in six communities on the banks of the Nanay and Pintuyacu rivers...

The results showed 37% of the 273 men, women and children tested had levels of mercury at more than 10 ppm (parts per million) in their hair, compared to just 3% under the 2.2 ppm 'safe' limit established by the World Health Organization (WHO)...

Illegal miners use mercury to extract gold particles from the river silt and then burn off the toxic metal, which turns to vapour and is absorbed by surrounding plants, soil and rivers, said Claudia Vega, head of the mercury programme at CINCIA. 

Mercury poisoning is associated with several health issues, including cognitive impairment in adults and irreversible developmental delays and learning difficulties for children and babies in the womb...