Kedougou of Senegal --- Sadio Camara said the fastest way to separate gold from rocks is a drop of mercury. She poured a dime-sized silver liquid into a dirt plastic bucket outside her home in southeastern Senegal. Her kids had bare hands, without masks, and she spun the mixture as her kids watched.

"I know Mercury is bad for your health, which is why I don't drink water," she said. "I only deal with a small amount of gold, so there is no danger."

However, even small-scale exposure can pose serious risks.

Throughout West Africa, Mercury, an effective neurotoxin, remains the primary method of extracting gold from the region’s booming informal mining sector, most of which are illegal and unregulated. In Senegal's rich Kedougou region, women like Camara often use metals (usually without protective gloves and masks) to make a living.

Mercury exposure can lead to irreversible brain damage, delayed development, tremors and vision loss, hearing and coordination. After release, it spreads easily through air, water and soil. Especially after heavy rain, it polluted the river, venom fished and accumulated food chains.

A 2018 study led by Duke University found that soil, sediment and water levels in artificial gold mining areas in southeast Senegal exceeded the safety threshold set by the World Health Organization and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

In hand-mining, Mercury is valued for its ability to combine with gold quickly and easily. The miner mixes the liquid metal into the crushed ore and heats the mixture (usually an open flame) to evaporate the mercury and leave a piece of gold behind. The process is cheap, effective and dangerous.

"If you get hurt like a knife right away, people will stop. But the problem is, the danger will take years to happen." Doudou Dramé, president of Observatoire Terroriale du secteur Defactif, said the group advocates safer conditions for gold miners in Kedougou. "People poured it directly into the river. They burned it in the open smoke and released the toxic smoke into the air. It's extremely dangerous."

According to the UN Environmental Program, manual and small-scale gold mining is the world's largest source of mercury emissions, even more than burning coal. In Senegal alone, it is estimated that 12 to 16 tons of mercury are released annually by hand mines.

“Kedougou has a wealth of land – very rich land,” Dramé said. "Mercury is everywhere now. Our animals consume it, and it is back to us. Even the soil is no longer fertile."

Dozens of women are deep knees as they flush piles of sediments in search of gold sediments. Children dart between the earth mounds, while runoff surrounds their feet. With little clean water, many women spend a long time working on local waterways, bathing, washing clothes and clean dishes.

“Women are more susceptible to male exposure than men,” said Modou Goumbala, monitoring and evaluation manager at La Lumiere, which supports community development in southeast Senegal.

This exposure is particularly dangerous for pregnant and breastfeeding women. Mercury can cross the placenta, putting the fetus at risk of developmental delays and birth defects. Infants can also absorb toxins through contaminated breast milk.

Not far from the stream in her kitchen cottage, Camara heated a metal spoon of cargo on an open-air flame. The toxic metal evaporates and remains behind the gold core. No mask, no gloves - only raw materials and her naked hands. Her child stood just a few feet away, watching and breathing smoke.

Kamala said she doesn't usually deal with her own burn. This task is usually left to men. But she and other women often mix and shape mercury amalgam, without any protection. One of her children often suffers from stomach pain, although she doesn't notice any other symptoms. Nevertheless, the risk is imminent.

“The easiest way to make money today is gold mining,” Kamala said. “Survival agriculture won’t provide you with enough food or other needs.”

In Senegal, gold processors like Kamala usually process 5 to 10 grams of gold per month, equivalent to $370 to $745, more than double the national average salary of about $200.

Senegal ratified the Mema Mercury Convention in 2016 and promised to reduce the use and pollution of mercury. But the substance can still be widely used. According to a report from the Institute for Security Research, the majority of the country's supply comes from Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso and Ghana, where fewer people smuggle dental clinics in Dhaka.

In 2020, the government promised to build 400 mercury-free gold treatment units. So far, only one has been built in Bantaco, about 15 miles from the home in Camara. The facility uses gravity to separate gold from ore, eliminating the need for mercury by relying on sinks and rocking tables.

On a recent visit, the rusty metal plate was not sitting under the corrugated roof.

"People used it for a while, but then stopped because one unit couldn't cover the entire community," Goumbala said. "Naturally, people nearby could use it. But for those who were very distant, they couldn't afford to transport the ore all the way, process it and then return. That's the extra work. It's a problem."

Kamala said she tried the department, but except in the distance, it worked less effectively in isolating gold - some people lost in the process.

Repeated efforts to arrange interviews with the director of handcraft and small-scale mining in Senegal have failed. The directors later said the department had been suspended. He did not provide any reason.

Senegal swore in the new president in 2024, but residents said the problem still exists.

"There is a new government, but the commitment is still a commitment," Goumbala said. He believes the lack of progress is due to limited funding.

To curb pollution, authorities temporarily suspended mining within 500 meters (1,640 feet) of the Faram River, which cut through Senegal's golden belt and forms part of the border with Mali.

But law enforcement is weak as officials struggle to stop the influx of informal miners, many of whom come from neighboring countries. The measure has little surfaces of scratching problems, critics say.

"The solution is to install gold processing units in the community - at least one per village," Goumbala said.

Even so, he acknowledged the challenge: these machines are expensive, difficult to maintain, and require replacement parts only available abroad.

Miners also have resistance, saying mercury is more effective and profitable.

“We need to convince the community that even if they make more money using mercury, in the end, they spend their profits on treating the disease that is caused by it,” Goumbala said. “The long-term consequences are much worse.”

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