UN program helps women avoid exposure to toxic chemical in mining industry: 'The work is far from over'

A United Nations-sponsored program is helping women across the world build financial independence while abandoning the use of one brain-harming substance.

Liquid mercury has long been used in gold mining. As Scientific American explains, the element is added to sediment that has been dredged from a river and forms a coating around gold. In this type of mining, the mercury is burned off, leaving behind the gold but releasing toxic vapors.  

According to the U.N., between 10 and 20 million people worldwide — many of them women and children — work in these types of operations. Citing a study published in the ScienceDirect journal, the U.N. reported, "Up to 33% of artisanal miners suffer from moderate metallic mercury vapor intoxication." This toxic chemical is a neurotoxin that can cause permanent brain damage, the U.N. adds. Meanwhile, it also accumulates in the environment and can be particularly dangerous to species at the top of the food web, such as fish-eating birds and large predators.

Because of this, the U.N. is looking to reduce the environmental and health harms of artisanal gold mining while also building resilience for local women through its PlanetGold program. According to the organization, this program has helped to institute local savings and credit groups that provide rural communities with new financing opportunities, allowing them to invest in technology that reduces their reliance on mercury. 

For instance, one group of women in Burkina Faso purchased a machine that helps them to process gold ore without mercury. 

"It's true: With mercury, it may be faster, but without mercury, it is more beneficial for us," local participant Angèle Délo told the U.N. 

Meanwhile, in Colombia, a group that goes by the name "the unstoppable women" is also benefiting from the program. 

"There is a lot of illegal mining around here," group member Mary Luz Ante Orobio tells the U.N. "We want to counteract that, because it is polluting the environment. From the savings, women can [upgrade] their sluice boxes, can get their [sluice box] rugs... This group allows women to create their own small businesses and be [independent] from money or resources that the men bring home." 

According to the U.N., the PlanetGold program has already prevented over 34 tons of mercury pollution and supported more than 17,200 miners.

"The global community is taking strong early steps to address mercury use across sectors. But the work is far from over," says Monika Stankiewicz, the executive secretary of the Minamata Convention Secretariat. "Creating new financial opportunities for those engaged in mining will accelerate the move away from mercury, leaving both people and the planet healthier." 

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