A gold mining area in the Peruvian Amazon
ERNESTO BENAVIDES/AFP via Getty Images
Mercury pollution accumulated in trees could offer a new way to keep tabs on destructive gold mining operations in the Amazon rainforest.
“We could potentially see whether mining is starting to ramp up,” says Jacqueline Gerson at Cornell University in New York.
Most small-scale gold mining operations separate gold from ore by adding liquid mercury and then burning the mixture, releasing large amounts of mercury – a potent neurotoxin – into the air. Together, these mining operations, many of which are illegal, represent the largest source of mercury…