Mercury Poisoning
Updated: Jul 2, 2022
| BRAIN & NERVOUS SYSTEM CENTER | Medical Author: Charles Patrick Davis, MD, PhD | | Medical Editor: William C. Shiel Jr., MD, FACP, FACR |
What is Mercury Poisoning?
Poisoning of humans can occur from inhalation, ingestion, or skin contact with the various forms of mercury.
Mercury is an element that is found all over the earth, in soil, rocks, and water. Even trace amounts can be found in the air. The largest deposits on earth are as cinnabar (mercuric sulfide). Mercury exists in several forms such as a liquid metal (quicksilver), as a vapor, and in compounds (organic and inorganic). Scientifically, the symbol for mercury is Hg and its element number is 80.
There are numerous items that contain mercury in its various forms that can cause a toxic exposure. They are present in many workplaces and in the home.
For example, coal burning power plants emit mercury (the highest source of mercury put into the air until 2017), home thermometers, "button" batteries, the new energy-saving fluorescent light bulbs, and seafood (shellfish, tuna, marlin and many others).
Such items are all potential sources of mercury poisoning. However, guidelines are available for the prudent use, consumption and disposal of items containing forms of mercury.
It’s everywhere: in the rain, snow, our food, our waters, even in the human placenta! Mercury is poisoning life on Earth.
ARE YOU AWARE Artisanal miners' gold ore processing produces 20% of the world's supply of gold used in our jewellery, iPad’s, iPhone, computers, and other electronics devices and is the world's largest anthropogenic source of deadly mercury pollution overtaking coal fired plants mercury emissions in 2017?
Artisanal miners' ore processing uses mercury, a deadly neurotoxin and precursor to an even deadlier neurotoxin Methylmercury @ 100 times more potent than elemental mercury to extract liberated gold from crushed or milled ore by forming an amalgam which is vaporized leaving the gold while releasing 2,000 tonnes of mercury to our atmosphere annually .
Mercury pollution is documented in 2021 by Oxford University earth scientists to stay airborne up to one year then precipitates back to Earth in the form of rain and snow.
The morbid irony lies in the fact the same vaporized mercury is polluting the air we all breathe, contaminating our drinking water, polluting the Oceans we swim, poisoning the fish we consume especially tuna where mercury bioaccumulates the most causing health issues, and global biodiversity destruction.
But finally there's hope!
Visit our Corporate site to learn what we’re doing about artisanal miners’ ore processing in Zaruma Ecuador and see how your impact investment capital will mitigate future human and child in utero health threats, local and global biodiversity destruction, and deadly global mercury pollution.
“An innovation provider with a scalable ESG-driven climate action initiative to eliminate mercury used by artisanal miners processing ore to extract gold”
Bruce A. Cosgrove, M.Sc., (Solution Chemistry) President/CEO
"Profit proudly owning sustainably reclaimed tailings gold, a globally wasted commodity"
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