Environmentalists and health experts have warned small-scale miners in Busia District against the use of mercury in mining gold.
Most artisanal gold miners around the world, are fond of mixing mercury with gold ore before exposing the mixture to heat and separate gold from the rock.
Mr Geoffrey Kamese, an environmentalist working with Bio Vision Africa (BIVA), told Daily Monitor that a survey conducted last year found that the blood of some miners especially in Busia District was contaminated with mercury substance.
He said such contamination will have a negative impact on their lives in the future.
“We carried out a survey and established that the levels of mercury pollution in the blood of miners, soil, water and food crop contamination, were very high in the mining districts,” he said.
BIVA in conjunction with Uganda National Association of Community and Occupational Health (NACOH) have carried out the survey between July and August, 2018 in gold mining areas of Busia, Buhweju, Mubende, Namayingo and Karamoja.
He said interventions to prevent the use of mercury in mining activities are urgent.
“Mercury has been identified as very poisonous, it is classified as a neurological toxicant, which affects the nervous systems of the people, who get exposed to it,” he said.
Mr. Kamese said the chemical is more dangerous to children, adding that it affects their brains, prone to tumors, memory loss and headaches. Environmentalists have also warned that the chemical when irresponsibly disposed of from mining areas, it drains into rivers and lakes, affecting the water for aquatic life and domestic use.
