A new study carried out by the Central of Indigenous Peoples of La Paz (CPILAP), in Bolivia, detected alarming levels of mercury contamination in six indigenous peoples settled on the Madre de Dios and Beni rivers, in the Amazon basin.
Faced with the findings, communities have organized to demand from the authorities measures to protect their health and the environment.
The research was carried out between July 2022 and February 2023, as several people from the indigenous territories of Tacana I, Tacana II, Lecos Larecaja, Tsimane Mosetene, Lecos de Apolo and San José de Uchupiamonas, in the northwest of that country, began to have health problems.
Girls and boys were born with deformities and learning disorders, and there were several cases of anemia, premature births and people who lost the ability to walk.
Upon noticing this, the presidents and chiefs of each town feared that the diseases were the result of mercury poisoning, since the basis of the diet of these peoples is fish, and in the rivers where they capture this input there is intense mining activity, for which the mentioned metal is used.
For this reason, they expressed their concerns to the CPILAP, which decided to take action on the matter: it trained five technicians from each of the six towns to collect samples in the 36 communities closest to mining operations, and then sent them to the Environmental Quality Laboratory (LCA), of the Universidad Mayor de San Andrés (UMSA), explained Lino Illimuri, vice-president of the CPILAP, in an interview with Causa Natura Media.
In total, hair samples from 302 people were studied. The findings, published last June, were worrying: at least 59.9% of the people who participated in the study had mercury levels above that established by the World Health Organization (WHO), such as those of an acceptable intake, which is 2 parts per million (ppm).
The greatest impacts due to mercury pollution were recorded in the lower part of the Beni River basin, in the Ese Ejjas, Tsimane', Tacana and Mosetene villages, which are not related to gold mining.
The CPILAP trained indigenous people to take samples and determine degrees of mercury contamination. Photo: Center of Indigenous Peoples of La Paz (CPILAP)
The ESE ejjas samples showed a higher concentration of mercury, with 6.9 ppm, six times more than the reference value established by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), of 1 ppm; followed by those of the tsimanes, with 6.7; and the mosetenes, with 4.01. The rest of the towns recorded concentrations lower than 3 parts per million.
Of the 36 communities studied, the Corte tsimane had the highest average concentration, with 11.25 ppm, but the most extreme values were reported in the Ejija population of the Eyiyoquibo community.
In 18 communities, that is, half of those sampled, 100% of the people had levels greater than 1 ppm of mercury.
The mercury that poisons Bolivian rivers
Mercury pollution of rivers in the Bolivian Amazon, as a result of the gold mining industry, is not something new. Since 1980, the problem was detected and studied began.
The pollution cycle begins when cooperatives and mining companies use mercury to amalgamate gold, since it is the most efficient and fastest process to recover it.
The metal, in small quantities, reaches or discharges into rivers and, through the action of reducing sulfate bacteria, is transformed into organic mercury (methylmercury), which accumulates in fish, the basis of the diet of indigenous peoples.
Thus, although the amount of metal in the water is small, it is magnified in the fish that are then consumed.
“The small amount of mercury available in bodies of water is dramatically magnified hundreds or thousands of times until it reaches the human being, so this causes health problems,” said Darío Achá, head of the UMSA's LCA.
According to the specialist, although the levels of mercury in the inhabitants of the Bolivian Amazon are not as alarming as those detected in the populations of Minamata, Japan, in Iraq or in some regions of Europe, the danger is that exposure to the metal has been longer.
And according to studies conducted in 1990, chronic contact with high levels of mercury has adverse health effects, mainly on the nervous system of pregnant products, making pregnant women the group most at risk.
However, the scientist stressed that high levels of mercury have been detected in bodies of water where there are mining companies that do not use this metal, such as Lake Uru Uru, which connects to Lake Titicaca, so it could not be ruled out that the pollution is due to other circumstances. As an example, he listed that soil erosion provides a significant level of mercury.
Can anything be done to prevent the indigenous population from continuing to become intoxicated? According to Acha, yes. He considered mining restrictions a “losing battle”, since “companies have an almost unlimited source of resources that comes from abroad”, and there is a “ridiculous demand for gold that is unrealistic and unconscious”, so he decided to mitigate the impact by working with communities, teaching them which fish species are suitable for consumption and which are not, as well as alternatives to promote changes in dietary habits.
For example, it has been detected that alligators have a very efficient decontamination system and their meat has mercury levels comparable to those of herbivorous fish, which is why it is more advisable to consume alligators.
In the same way, they could be provided with planting training. The implementation of programs to generate fish or protein exchange in Andean areas is another option, said the expert.
On the other hand, the LCA of the UMSA, in cooperation with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the French Embassy, have explored strategies such as phytoremediation to reduce the amount of mercury in water bodies.
“We found algae that accumulate large amounts of mercury and methylmercury, which could be used to remove it from the ecosystem. This is a patch in the face of a gigantic problem, it's unfortunately like covering up the sun with your hand. It's an alternative that can help, but it won't solve the problem,” said the head of the laboratory.
Currently, the pilot system is being designed to implement the strategy in the field, but there is no date for the first studies to be published.
On the other hand, Achá stressed the need to carry out new, updated studies to determine the effects of mercury contamination, since to date it has not been investigated whether neurological, intellectual and motor development problems are related to the consumption of contaminated fish or if they are a consequence of another problem.
“The effects of mercury are very similar to those caused by hunger: malnutrition causes problems with the nervous system, intellectual capacity and intellectual development of children. And indigenous communities are generally very poor. So it's not that easy to make the connection between mercury and these problems. Very serious and, unfortunately, very costly studies are needed to determine this,” he said.
Actions to combat mercury pollution of rivers must be coordinated strategies between the eight Amazonian countries, said the vice-rector of the UMSA, María Eugenia García, who reported that in August the presidents of those nations will meet in Brazil to discuss the problem and it is expected that “severe” decisions will be taken there in this regard.
The requirement: healthy water and environment
The results of the CPILAP study set off global alarms, but they mainly concerned the affected indigenous populations, especially since Bolivia is one of the world's leading importers of mercury.
According to the Central Bank, metal imports grew 60% in the last 10 years, despite the fact that the country signed the Minamata Convention, committing itself to reducing or eliminating the use of mercury in gold mining.
“We have our Mother Earth Rights Act, Environment Act 1333. Our Political Constitution says that the Bolivian government must guarantee the existence of indigenous peoples in a healthy, healthy environment. But what we see is that mercury is silently killing our peoples, it is contaminating our indigenous brothers,” said Lino Illimuri.
For this reason, the communities that are part of the CPILAP are preparing a lawsuit against State institutions responsible for monitoring compliance with environmental regulations and the operations of mining companies and cooperatives.
“We have a lot of environmental regulations in Bolivia, which practically say that you can't do mining in bodies of water, but in all the rivers they have Chinese and Colombian dragons, with heavy machinery working on the different bodies of water and there is no authority to control, that can go and see what permits it is working with. Companies that are in the rivers have their permits pending, but they are already working. By the time they finish the procedure there is nothing left in place. We know that there are instances of the government that are not doing their job and against those instances we are going to make the corresponding demands,” said the vice-president of the CPILAP.
What they want is for the Bolivian State to comply with both national and international standards to protect the environment, as well as the territory and health of indigenous peoples.
The legal action will seek to improve access to basic services, such as doctors and education, and the implementation of productive programs so that residents can obtain pools to raise fish or have new sources of food inputs that allow them to stop consuming contaminated fish. Currently, it is being considered to include the requirement for reparation of the damage for affected people.
“There are already siblings who have practically been left in wheelchairs and have several children and there is no one to support those children. That is why we are considering asking for compensation from the State or those responsible, who are the cooperatives that are doing the environmental damage,” Illimuri added.
In the same way, five toxicology specialists, together with a team of doctors and doctors, are touring the 36 communities that participated in the study to share the findings and give them health advice, in addition to monitoring the state of the people who provided hair samples.
In this regard, the vice-president of the CPILAP explained that they have already held meetings with the Bolivian Ministry of Health, to follow up on people who have a high level of mercury in their bodies and the possibility of creating an exclusive Health Network for affected indigenous communities is being analyzed.
The CPILAP, together with personnel from the Bolivian Ministry of Health, began the tours to report the results of the study to the indigenous populations that participated. Photo: Central of Indigenous Peoples of La Paz (CPILAP).
The Central Bank study has encouraged other populations to organize themselves to carry out their own research: in some cities in the departments of Beni and Pando, in the north of the country, they are already getting down to work.
“What we want is for the State to be able to comply with the regulations, for us to be a country where the law is truly enforced for everything, not that favors certain sectors and that others are prohibited from certain things,” Illimuri concluded.
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