From: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu (Rich Winkel)
Subject: BRAZIL: MERCURY DUMPING THREATENS THOUSANDS
Followup-To: alt.activism.d
Originator: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu
Organization: PACH
Date: Tue, 28 Jul 1992 09:23:40 GMT

/** reg.samerica: 126.0 **/
** Topic: BRAZIL: MERCURY DUMPED IN SWAMP THR **
** Written  7:26 am  Jul 20, 1992 by hrcoord in cdp:reg.samerica **
From: Human Rights Coordinator <hrcoord>
Subject: BRAZIL: MERCURY DUMPED IN SWAMP THR

/* Written 12:25 am  Jul 20, 1992 by newsdesk in cdp:ips.englibrary */
Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all rights reserved.  Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Title: BRAZIL: MERCURY DUMPED IN SWAMP THREATENS LIVES OF THOUSANDS

rio de janeiro, jul 17 (ips) -- thousands of people are exposed
to kidney failure and even cancer, due to high levels of mercury
pollution in a swamp in east central brazil which empties into a
river shared by brazil, paraguay, bolivia, argentina and uruguay.

a university study released here friday found fish with up to
2.5 milligrammes per kilogramme of muscular tissue and birds with
as much as four milligrammes in the mato grosso swamp, from which
the paraguay river obtains its water.

the world health organization sets 0.5 milligrammes per
kilogramme as the maximum acceptable limit, according to the
study by luiz marques vieira, agronomist at the centre for
agricultural research on the matto grosso swamp.

vieira conducted close to 1,000 tests on fishes, birds,
molluscs and sediment from the network of rivers and lagoons
which form the swamp, a humid ecosystem with an area over 200
square kilometres and an enormous zoological wealth.

half of the tests showed mercury levels above the acceptable
limit.

vieira's study is part of a doctoral thesis done at the
federal university of san carlos in the state of sao paulo.

mercury is washed into the rivers when 'garimpeiros' (informal
prospectors) use it to separate gold from surrounding material.

the heavy metal sinks to the river beds, the feeding grounds
of fish and molluscs, which in turn are eaten by birds and
humans.

until recently, pocone, an area close to the rio cuiaba in the
state of mato grosso, was a major prospecting centre. informal
gold mining has been prohibited in pocone, but enforcing the ban
is a difficult task.

the highest levels of mercury pollution have been registered
in the cuiaba and in bento gomes river, which is also close to
pocone.

the waters of the mato grosso swamp run off sluggishly,
because of the relative flatness of the area between matto
grosso, bolivia, paraguay, argentina and uruguay through which
they flow.

in the state of mato grosso do sul, which borders on bolivia
and paraguay, the study found mercury levels ten percent above
the acceptable limit.
----


vieira found that birds showed the highest levels of
contamination because fish constitute an extremely high
percentage of their diet.

but in the region around the swamp, fish is also the main
source of protein for a large section of the population and this
has sparked fears that the health of many people may already have
been irreparably impaired.

mercury damages the kidneys and the central nervous system. it
can also cause cancers and genetic modifications, according to
doctors who have been conducting studies in this field.

informal mining is done in the entire western and northern
part of brazil. trade union sources say it employs close to one
million people, most of whom use mercury to extract the gold.
(end/ips/trd/so/mo-cs/kb/92)
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