Gold mining spreads mercury to tropical birds, study says
Tropical birds, from kingfishers to wrens to warblers, are showing signs of mercury contamination as artisanal and small-scale gold mining operations reach deeper into jungles, new research finds. Birds living within 7 km (4 miles) of such gold mining activity were found to have mercury concentrations over four times higher than those living at other sites across the tropics of Central and South America, according to the study published Tuesday in the journal Ecotoxicology. ”It’s a wake-up call for bird conservation internationally across the tropics,” said lead author Chris Sayers, a conservation biologist at the University of California Los Angeles. … Tropical bird biodiversity has been declining in recent decades, but scientists are not fully sure why. “Based on the levels here, it’s reasonable to suggest that mercury may be playing a role,” Sayers said.