In a recent study published in the journal Biogeosciences, scientists have confirmed that mercury pollution from artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) is contaminating food crops not through the soil, as previously believed, but directly from the air. Driven by the surging price of gold, which has increased by more than tenfold since 2000, the rapid expansion of unregulated mining in these regions raises urgent questions about food security, human health, and environmental justice.
In a recent study published in the journal Biogeosciences, scientists have confirmed that mercury pollution from artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) is contaminating food crops not through the soil, as previously believed, but directly from the air. Driven by the surging price of gold, which has increased by more than tenfold since 2000, the rapid expansion of unregulated mining in these regions raises urgent questions about food security, human health, and environmental justice.
The study, conducted by an international team of scientists led by Excellent O. Eboigbe and David McLagan at Queens University, and Abiodun Odukoya Mary at the University of Lagos, focused on a farming community in Nigeria situated near an artisanal and small-scale gold mining site. The researchers compared crops from a field located 500 meters from the ASGM site with those grown 8 kilometers away. The contrast was striking: mercury concentrations in leaves and grains were approximately 10–50 times higher in the farm closer to the mining site.
For decades, scientists have assumed that mercury enters food crops primarily via the roots, after leaching into the soil or water. But this new research, using sophisticated mercury stable isotope analyses, reveals a very different mechanism at work.
