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Gold Demand Puts Peru’s Amazon at Greater Risk From Mercury Poisoning, Bishop Warns

On Oct. 1, 2025, Miguel Ángel Cadenas, Catholic bishop and Augustinian missionary, warned at the Amazon Water Summit in Iquitos that illegal mining surged since the COVID-19 pandemic and small-scale miners use mercury, contaminating rivers like the Tigre and Putumayo.
Research and analysts say weak traceability and refinery laundering allow mercury-tainted gold to reach markets including China, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and Switzerland, driven by rising gold prices.
Research found 43% of women in Madre de Dios exceeded World Health Organization limits, while hair samples from nearly 80% of local residents showed mercury contamination, causing neurological harm amid scarce medical services.
Despite Operation Mercury and a four-ton seizure at Callao port this year, authorities say cross-border smuggling persists and violence threatens environmental defenders in Peru.
Peru's Constitutional Court ruled two years ago that this is an 'unconstitutional state of affairs,' but the judgment remains unfulfilled and Loreto lacks potable water for about 60% of its population, raising food insecurity amid an Amazonian diet rich in fish.

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