Impacts of the Goldmining and Chronic Methylmercury Exposure on the Good-Living and Mental Health of Munduruku Native Communities in the Amazon Basin

Rafaela Waddington Achatz, Ana Claudia Santiago de Vasconcellos, Lucia Pereira, Paulo Victor de Sousa Viana and Paulo Cesar Basta
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Rafaela Waddington Achatz: Programa de Pós-Graduação em Psicologia Clínica do Instituto de Psicologia, Universidade de São Paulo (USP), Av. Professor Mello Moraes, 1721-Butantã, São Paulo 05508-030, Brazil
Ana Claudia Santiago de Vasconcellos: Laboratório de Educação Profissional em Vigilância em Saúde, Escola Politécnica de Saúde Joaquim Venâncio, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (EPSJV/Fiocruz), Av. Brasil, 4365-Manguinhos, Rio de Janeiro 21040-900, Brazil
Lucia Pereira: Programa de Pós-Graduação em Antropologia, Universidade Federal da Grande Dourados (UFGD), Rodovia Dourados, Km 12, Unidade II, 364, Itahum, Dourados 79804-970, Brazil
Paulo Victor de Sousa Viana: Centro de Referência Professor Hélio Fraga, Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (CRPHF/ENSP/Fiocruz), Estrada de Curicica, 2000, Curicica, Rio de Janeiro 22780-195, Brazil
Paulo Cesar Basta: Departamento de Endemias Samuel Pessoa, Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (ENSP/Fiocruz), Rua Leopoldo Bulhões, 1480, Manguinhos, Rio de Janeiro 21041-210, Brazil

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 17, 1-18

Abstract: This paper is an exploratory study that examines the illegal goldmining impacts on Munduruku communities’ “Good-Living” ( Xipan Jewewekukap ) and explores the possible relationship between chronic methylmercury (MeHg) exposure and the worsening mental health conditions in three villages in the Middle-Tapajós River, Brazilian Amazon. The region has been experiencing a long-lasting threat of goldminers’ invasions. A total of 109 people were interviewed and evaluated. Total mercury (THg) exposure levels were evaluated through hair samples analysis, from which MeHg exposure levels were calculated. The Geriatric Depression Scale—Short Form (GDS-SF) was used as a screening tool in order to assess mental health indicators. Brief non-structured interviews were carried out to investigate how goldmining is impacting the communities Good-Living. A Poisson regression model was used to estimate the possible association between mental health indicators (assessed through the GDS-SF) and the following independent variables: (i) mercury exposure level (<10.0 μg/g vs. ≥10.0 μg/g), (ii) self-reported nervousness, (iii) self-reported irritability, (iv) age group, and (v) monthly income. The analysis revealed high levels of mercury in hair samples (median: 7.4 µg/g, range 2.0–22.8; 70% and 28% of the participants had THg levels ≥6.0 and ≥10.0 µg/g, respectively) and pointed to a tendency in which higher levels of methylmercury exposure (Hg ≥ 10.0 µg/g) could be linked to worse mental health indicators. Although the GDS-SF has presented limitations due to the Munduruku sociocultural context, our findings suggest a tendency of worse mental health indicators in participants presenting high levels of MeHg exposure. Despite this limitation, the qualitative approach indicates an evident association between the impacts of goldmining and the Munduruku people’s decreasing autonomy to maintain a Good-Living on their own terms, pointing to the importance of carrying out new investigations, especially considering longitudinal studies with qualitative methodologies and ethnographic approaches.

Keywords: illegal mining activities; methylmercury exposure; Good-Living; mental health; Munduruku; Amerindian people; Brazilian amazon; environmental pollution; cosmopolitics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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