Marcello M. Veiga*; John A. Meech*; Nilda Oñate**
University of British Columbia
*Department of Mining and Mineral Process Engineering
6350 Stores Rd., Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada
**Department of Resources Management, Faculty of ForestryAbstract
High mercury levels in the blood of fish-eating people in the Amazon have been attributed to gold mining activities conducted by informal miners. However, the high deforestation rate in the region has not been recognized as contributing to this environmental problem. About 90 tonnes of organic mercury from the biomass are estimated to be emitted annually to the atmosphere and precipitated in the aquatic systems for rapid transformation into methylated forms. This is a conservative assessment and may be more than 6 times this rate.