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posted by Fnord666 on Monday November 11 2019, @04:34AM   Printer-friendly
from the what-about-venus? dept.

Submitted via IRC for Runaway1956

The Hidden Cost of Gold: Birth Defects and Brain Damage

CIDAHU, Indonesia — Thousands of children with crippling birth defects. Half a million people poisoned. A toxic chemical found in the food supply. Accusations of a government cover-up and police officers on the take.

This is the legacy of Indonesia's mercury trade, a business intertwined with the lucrative and illegal production of gold.

More than a hundred nations have joined a global campaign to reduce the international trade in mercury, an element so toxic there is "no known safe level of exposure," according to health experts.

But that effort has backfired in Indonesia, where illicit backyard manufacturers have sprung up to supply wildcat miners and replace mercury that was previously imported from abroad. Now, Indonesia produces so much black-market mercury that it has become a major global supplier, surreptitiously shipping thousands of tons to other parts of the world.

Much of the mercury is destined for use in gold mining in Africa and Asia, passing through hubs such as Dubai and Singapore, according to court records — and the trade has deadly consequences.

"It is a public health crisis," said Yuyun Ismawati, a co-founder of an Indonesian environmental group, Nexus3 Foundation, and a recipient of the 2009 Goldman Environmental Prize. She has called for a worldwide ban on using mercury in gold mining.

Mercury can be highly dangerous as it accumulates up the food chain, causing a wide range of disorders, including birth defects, neurological problems and even death.

Today, despite the risks, small-scale miners using mercury operate in about 80 countries in Asia, Africa and the Americas. They produce up to 25 percent of all gold sold.


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  • (Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Monday November 11 2019, @08:23PM (8 children)

    by PartTimeZombie (4827) on Monday November 11 2019, @08:23PM (#919056)

    Captival seems to be spouting the US right-wing talking point that there are only two possibilities here:

    Unfettered capitalism, with minimal government oversight and minimal corporate taxation. (preferably none at all). This will bring about maximum freedom.

    Venezuela. Ignoring for the moment the sanctions that have crippled their economy, and the reasons for those. Also ignoring Cuba, Iran, Chile and any other country that has dared to reject all that freedom the US has tried to give them over the years.

    I am pretty sure he is another American that has never traveled outside the US, but somehow is an expert on how other people should live their lives.

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  • (Score: 0, Flamebait) by khallow on Monday November 11 2019, @09:22PM (7 children)

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Monday November 11 2019, @09:22PM (#919091) Journal

    Captival seems to be spouting the US right-wing talking point that there are only two possibilities here

    Doesn't seem that way to me. Have you checked to see if your straw man is plugged in?

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 11 2019, @09:28PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 11 2019, @09:28PM (#919095)

      Eye of beholder. Nobody as blind as the one who doesn't want to see.

      • (Score: 1) by khallow on Monday November 11 2019, @09:41PM

        by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Monday November 11 2019, @09:41PM (#919105) Journal
        And yet, who is the one who "doesn't want to see"? Who is speaking in idiotic parables rather than presenting a rational argument?
    • (Score: 3, Insightful) by PartTimeZombie on Monday November 11 2019, @10:20PM (1 child)

      by PartTimeZombie (4827) on Monday November 11 2019, @10:20PM (#919121)

      Oh and also widespread literacy, technical innovation, live-extending advances, and freedom of speech. For some reason you Commies hate all those things. Just look at the backwards hellholes you guys champion. Only in righteous Venezuela can an oil-rich nation turn into a starving wasteland.

      Absolutely presenting an either/or situation.

      I don't think strawman means what you think it means.

    • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Monday November 11 2019, @11:14PM (2 children)

      by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Monday November 11 2019, @11:14PM (#919134) Journal

      Doesn't seem that way to me.

      Enlighten us, oh, khallow. How exactly does it seem to you?

      --
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
      • (Score: 2, Informative) by khallow on Tuesday November 12 2019, @12:14AM (1 child)

        by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday November 12 2019, @12:14AM (#919158) Journal
        Sarcasm.
        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 12 2019, @10:56PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 12 2019, @10:56PM (#919588)

          Oh, so you think we didn't understand captival was being sarcastic? You really do think you're the smartest cookie in the mayonnaise jar huh?