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Deforestation Due to Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining Exacerbates Soil and Mercury Mobilization in Madre de Dios, Peru.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Diringer, SE; Berky, AJ; Marani, M; Ortiz, EJ; Karatum, O; Plata, DL; Pan, WK; Hsu-Kim, H
Published in: Environmental science & technology
January 2020

Artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) is a significant contributor of mercury (Hg) contamination and deforestation across the globe. In the Colorado River watershed in Madre de Dios, Peru, mining and deforestation have increased exponentially since the 1980s, resulting in major socioeconomic shifts in the region and two national state of emergency (2016 and 2019) in response to concerns for wide-scale mercury poisoning by these activities. This research employed a watershed-scale soil particle detachment model and environmental field sampling to estimate the role of land cover change and soil erosion on river transport of Hg in a heavily ASGM-impacted watershed. The model estimated that observed decreases in forest cover increased soil mobilization by a factor of two in the Colorado River watershed during the 18 year period and by 4-fold in the Puquiri subwatershed (the area of most concentrated ASGM activity). If deforestation continues to increase at its current exponential rate through 2030, the annual mobilization of soil and Hg may increase by an additional 20-25% relative to 2014 levels. While, the estimated total mass of Hg transported by rivers is substantially less than the estimated tons of Hg used with ASGM in Peru, this research shows that deforestation associated with ASGM is an additional mechanism for mobilizing naturally occurring and anthropogenic Hg from terrestrial landscapes to aquatic environments in the region, potentially leading to bioaccumulation in fish and exposure to communities downstream.

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Published In

Environmental science & technology

DOI

EISSN

1520-5851

ISSN

0013-936X

Publication Date

January 2020

Volume

54

Issue

1

Start / End Page

286 / 296

Related Subject Headings

  • Water Pollutants, Chemical
  • Soil
  • Peru
  • Mining
  • Mercury
  • Gold
  • Environmental Sciences
  • Environmental Monitoring
  • Conservation of Natural Resources
  • Animals
 

Citation

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Diringer, S. E., Berky, A. J., Marani, M., Ortiz, E. J., Karatum, O., Plata, D. L., … Hsu-Kim, H. (2020). Deforestation Due to Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining Exacerbates Soil and Mercury Mobilization in Madre de Dios, Peru. Environmental Science & Technology, 54(1), 286–296. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.9b06620
Diringer, Sarah E., Axel J. Berky, Marco Marani, Ernesto J. Ortiz, Osman Karatum, Desiree L. Plata, William K. Pan, and Heileen Hsu-Kim. “Deforestation Due to Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining Exacerbates Soil and Mercury Mobilization in Madre de Dios, Peru.Environmental Science & Technology 54, no. 1 (January 2020): 286–96. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.9b06620.
Diringer SE, Berky AJ, Marani M, Ortiz EJ, Karatum O, Plata DL, et al. Deforestation Due to Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining Exacerbates Soil and Mercury Mobilization in Madre de Dios, Peru. Environmental science & technology. 2020 Jan;54(1):286–96.
Diringer, Sarah E., et al. “Deforestation Due to Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining Exacerbates Soil and Mercury Mobilization in Madre de Dios, Peru.Environmental Science & Technology, vol. 54, no. 1, Jan. 2020, pp. 286–96. Epmc, doi:10.1021/acs.est.9b06620.
Diringer SE, Berky AJ, Marani M, Ortiz EJ, Karatum O, Plata DL, Pan WK, Hsu-Kim H. Deforestation Due to Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining Exacerbates Soil and Mercury Mobilization in Madre de Dios, Peru. Environmental science & technology. 2020 Jan;54(1):286–296.
Journal cover image

Published In

Environmental science & technology

DOI

EISSN

1520-5851

ISSN

0013-936X

Publication Date

January 2020

Volume

54

Issue

1

Start / End Page

286 / 296

Related Subject Headings

  • Water Pollutants, Chemical
  • Soil
  • Peru
  • Mining
  • Mercury
  • Gold
  • Environmental Sciences
  • Environmental Monitoring
  • Conservation of Natural Resources
  • Animals