Gold is a beautiful commodity but extracting it from the ground comes at a high environmental cost. Among the top concerns: mercury emissions. Small-scale and artisinal gold mining and refining are the cause of larger emissions of mercury into the atmosphere and environment than any other global sectors.
These sources contribute approximately 400 metric tonnes of airborne elemental mercury into the atmosphere annually, producing detrimental results for our health and environment.
The Source of Metallic Pollution & Mercury Poisoning Risks
Gold shops, the small-scale gold buying and refining facilities situated in over 55 countries worldwide, are critical to the gold production process. However, they are also a major source of mercury air pollution.
Ingesting mercury or inhaling its fumes can pose serious health risks. Some of the side effects of mercury poisoning include:
- Loss of vision
- Lack of coordination
- Change in nerve responses
- Muscle weakening
Mercury poisoning can also cause damage to the brain, heart, lungs, kidneys, and immune system in serious cases.
A Solution to Metallic Pollutants
The Environmental Protection Agency has joined forces with Argonne National Laboratory in the hopes of cultivating a low-cost, easily constructable solution to these harmful metallic pollutants escaping into our atmosphere.
The result of their joint effort is the Gold Shop Mercury Capture System (or MCS). This system employs a 55-gallon steel drum in which mercury is cooled, condensed, and collected as liquid, allowing for safe management and storage.
This technology is not only simple to construct, but also incredibly low cost and easy to transport.
The Impact of Mercury Capture Systems in Gold Shops
In 2008, the MCS was trialed in Amazonian gold producing regions of Peru and Brazil. Pleased with the outlook of this innovative new technology, Peru developed a strategy for implementing MCS in gold mines nationwide.
The results were clear: MCS technology was shown to reduce airborne mercury emissions within gold shops by 80% in performance tests.
Regions like those Amazonian gold mines, which do not typically have access to effective mercury control technology, stand to experience a significant reduction in their mercury air pollution with the use of the MCS. These mercury capturing systems can prevent the release of over 200 metric tons of mercury into the atmosphere annually if used continuously and effectively.
During visits to various gold refining locations, data was collected to test the efficacy of the MCS technology. Analysis showed that in shops where MCS technology was installed, mercury vapor concentrations were close to the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists threshold limit value (ACGIH TLV) for occupational exposure (25 ug/m3).
Gold shops that did not have the MCS technology installed had mean ambient mercury vapor concentrations that were 5-20 times higher than those shops which had the MCS installed.
These results signal optimism and advancement within the gold mining industry. As consumer conscientiousness and global concern for environmental health continue to increase, this promising technology allows for a precious commodity like gold to be mined and produced thoughtfully. Thanks to MCS, the long-standing heritage and value of gold can be preserved, while significantly reducing harmful mercury emissions and minimizing the detrimental repercussions of mercury vapor.
