Days Lost from Mercury Intoxication in Mining This Year
CURRENT TOTAL
Live Counter Notable Facts
(Data shown in the table is for 2025. Counter shows current estimate)
Annual Days Lost
Affected Miners
Daily Impact
Understanding Days Lost from Mercury Intoxication in Mining This Year
This counter tracks the cumulative health impact of mercury exposure in artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM), measured in disability-adjusted days lost due to chronic mercury intoxication. Mercury poisoning is a major occupational health crisis affecting millions of miners worldwide.
Globally, 14-19 million workers are employed as artisanal small-scale gold miners. Based on biomonitoring data, between 25% and 33% of these miners—3.3-6.5 million miners globally—suffer from moderate to severe chronic metallic mercury vapor intoxication.
Mercury is used to extract gold by forming amalgam, which is then heated to evaporate the mercury. This exposes miners to toxic mercury vapor, causing neurological damage, kidney dysfunction, and other severe health effects that significantly reduce quality of life and working capacity.
Mercury Health Impact Overview
- Artisanal small-scale gold mining is the world's largest anthropogenic source of mercury emission, responsible for approximately 37% of global mercury pollution. Together, artisanal miners release about 1,000 tons of mercury into the environment each year.
- Studies show urinary mercury concentrations in ASGM miners frequently exceed 100 μg/g-creatinine, the level above which the probability of developing classical neurological signs of mercury intoxication is high. Some miners show levels exceeding 300 μg/g-creatinine.
- Mercury intoxication causes tremors, cognitive impairment, memory loss, depression, kidney damage, and respiratory problems. These health effects result in reduced work capacity, with moderate cases experiencing 20-30% disability and severe cases unable to work.
- The burden of disease from mercury in ASGM represents one of the largest occupational health problems globally, yet remains largely neglected. Women and children involved in gold processing face particularly high risks from mercury exposure.
Mercury Health Terminology
- Chronic Mercury Intoxication: Long-term poisoning from repeated mercury exposure
- Disability-Adjusted Life Year (DALY): Years of healthy life lost due to disease
- Biomonitoring: Measuring mercury levels in urine, blood, or hair
- Amalgamation: Process of mixing mercury with gold ore to extract gold
Health Effects of Mercury
- Neurological: Tremors, memory loss, cognitive decline
- Kidney damage: Proteinuria, renal dysfunction
- Respiratory: Pneumonitis, respiratory failure
- Psychological: Depression, anxiety, irritability
- Sensory: Vision and hearing impairment
Mercury Exposure by Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa: 4-6 million exposed
- Southeast Asia: 3-4 million exposed
- South America: 2-3 million exposed
- China: 3-5 million exposed
- Other regions: 1-2 million exposed
Disability Impact Estimates
- Mild intoxication: 10% work capacity loss
- Moderate intoxication: 25% capacity loss
- Severe intoxication: 75% capacity loss
- Average days lost per affected miner: 95/year
- Economic impact: $5-8 billion annually
Data Sources and References
Methodology and Data Collection
Days lost calculations are based on disability weights for chronic mercury intoxication applied to the estimated 5 million affected miners, with moderate intoxication resulting in approximately 95 disability days per year per affected person.
The real-time counter accumulates at 1,301,370 days per calendar day based on 475 million annual disability days, reflecting the continuous exposure and ongoing health impacts experienced by millions of artisanal gold miners worldwide.