World Wildlife Fund sounds mercury warning

http://www.stabroeknews.com/index.pl/article?id=56527332

World Wildlife Fund sounds mercury warning
Stabroek News
Wednesday, August 22nd 2007

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) says that unless adequate measures are
taken to trap mercury after it is used in mining operations it would
continue to pose health threats to those persons living in and around
mining camps.

Project Coordinator Rickford Vieira issued this warning during a brief
interview with Stabroek News following a presentation to delegates at
the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) mining conference which
concluded yesterday at the Tower Hotel.

"Mercury will always be a problem once it is used in the sector though
there were laws enacted by GGMC... But to monitor these things remains
critical," Vieira said.

A recent Institute of Applied Science and Tech-nology (IAST)/World
Wild-life Fund workshop held at the Demerara Mutual Insurance Company
boardroom discussed the results of a study on the presence of mercury
in Guyanese in three North West District villages.

Vieira pointed out that while efforts have been made by GGMC to monitor
mining operations, he believes that the commission's work is limited
somewhat because of insufficient personnel.

To this end, he noted that the commission had been forced to conduct
its monitoring on a periodic basis and so some miners during
inspections say that they are not using the substance.

Because of Guyana's vast interior, mining camps are sometimes located
very far away from each other and according to Vieira there are
instances where only one engineer or five officers are in charge of
monitoring a whole area and so it is difficult for them to visit every
operation.

He explained that the great influx of miners from nearby Brazil, who
are now scattered throughout the interior, has now made it harder for
the commission to contain and adequately manage the sector.

"They came and they introduced new techniques to the sector, but with
these came a new culture, a whole set of problems, social problems and
hygienic problems," he stated.

He noted that though the influx of Brazilians contributed to increased
production because of a highly mechanized mode of operation, their
presence also accounted for an increase in environmental damage.

Vieira, who is also a trained engineer, told Stabroek News that once
the miners continued to burn mercury without using precautionary
measures, there would continue to be problems.

Vieira explained that miners could avoid the mercury vapour from being
released into the environment if they utilize a retort.

"The mercury retort could be used to allow the vapour instead of going
to the environment to be condensed into the liquid form again, like
cooling, and it's a simple process," he said.

He referred to the scientific research conducted by his organisation in
the past which he said confirmed that the persons tested had inhaled
the mercury vapour and did not come into contact with it through the
food chain.

"People we tested got it from breathing in... even shopkeepers had high
levels too because they were burning it in an enclosed building," he
added.

Vieira is convinced that Guyana's mining regulations are good, but it
was just a matter of enforcement.

According to results of the assessment, which was conducted in 2005,
there were "significant levels of mercury contamination among the
population examined in the three communities since many individuals had
mercury levels within them that were above the guideline value for
mercury levels in humans". The study utilized the guideline value set
by the World Health Organization (WHO) for humans stated as 10 parts
per million (ppm).

It was conducted in three communities namely Arakaka, Port Kaituma and
Matthew's Ridge in the North West District. Two expeditions during the
dry and rainy seasons were undertaken and samples from the physical
environment including water and fish and human hair were taken to be
analyzed for the chemical. The sample locations were selected depending
on use by the residents. The persons involved were required to fill out
a questionnaire and workshops were held in all the locations. Over 2/3
of the respondents from the two expeditions conducted were involved in
the use of mercury.

Presenting the situation analysis, Lana Lawrence of the IAST stated
that "mercury contamination is prevalent in the physical and human
environment of the locations examined in the North West District. They
also show that the level of mercury contamination in the communities
examined was significant both in the wet and dry season". It was felt
that the high levels of the chemical could be attributed to the mining
industry and more needs to be done to eliminate or control the use of
mercury.

Lawrence said that it was discovered that while there was some general
knowledge of the negative impact of mercury, few persons know about the
symptoms associated with mercury exposure. During the workshops held,
she stated, videos were shown and the effects of mercury on human
health was highlighted while mercury-free techniques in mining were
discussed.