The mercury is transferred from the mother to the child during pregnancy. The Kayapo indigenous area is situated in the south of the State of Para. The contamination of recently born children was verified in a study carried out by professor Antonio Barbosa of the University of Brasilia. The study shows that the mercury level in the Kayapo women decreases during pregnancy when it is being transferred to the unborn child. At birth, many children have higher levels of mercury contamination than their mothers.
Contamination also happens through breast-feeding.
75 women were examined during the study. Problems caused by the contamination are not always present immediately after birth but begin to appear when the child is approximately 6 months old. The excluded from the system. A large number of youth and minors is found in this economic active population. 3.2 million youth between 10 and 17 years work and study at the same time while a further 4 million in the same age bracket have given up school and only work.