Team:UFAM Brazil/Regulation

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<h3 align="center">Getting Closer to the Environmental Secretary of Amazonas State (SDS)</h3>
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Gold mining in the Amazon region, although brings economic benefits, faces a number of serious environmental problems that affect ecosystems on a global scale. This is because the use of mercury in gold mining activities makes it one of the biggest threats to the waters of the Amazon.  
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With the Environmental Secretary of Amazonas State (SDS) we fought together against Mercury (Hg) contamination proposing an applicable solution to this, using Synthetic Biology. Although the use of mercury in mining is regulated by the Environment State Council (CEMAAM) by resolutions 011 and 014 published in 2012, Mercury is still being used in a very precariously way in the gold activity throughout Amazon.  
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<p align="center"><img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2014/c/cf/Ufam_brazil_2014_sds1.jpg"></p>
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Our project caught the chairman’s attention (in the pic above at the center with red shirt!) and reopening the debate on the use of Mercury element in the gold mining industry in the State of Amazonas.</p>
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For that reason the UFAM-BRAZIL team was invited to discuss the subject at the SDS office and together evaluate the environmental impact caused by indiscriminated use of Mercury in our region. In that occasion we were given the regulation documents for Hg use in gold mining. We invested time analyzing the papers and verified some points of fragility in the law such as:</p>
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In this region, mercury is used in the separation of gold present in the form of dust extracted from the mud in the mines. The mercury is added mud, connecting thereby forming the gold amalgam is heated to evaporate the metal and the gold yield. Mercury vapor produced in the process as well as the remains of the metal present in the mud, contaminate rainwater and rivers. And when that happens can trigger a series of problems beginning in the environment and have severe consequences to the population. The mercury in the environment has high chances of entering the food chain of animals in the ecosystem, starting with the microorganisms, and reaching the population that eats contaminated fish, which is the main staple food of the inhabitants of the banks of polluted rivers. More troubling than that, is to know that mercury is one of the most toxic metals on the planet and can cause a number of disorders such as tremor, ataxia, dysarthria, among others, being highly dangerous for pregnant women and children. Mercury contamination happens for two main reasons: lack of environmental awareness in the mining and wholesome, and also because of the lack of enforcement of government legislation.
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<i>1)Very broad scope of the law </i>– the legislation has the same weight to individual or small mining groups and large mining corporations.  
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Faced with this worrying situation, we, Team UFAM_BRAZIL who were born and live in a city that is in the middle of the Amazon forest, we eat all kinds of fish almost every day since forever, and moreover, we are lucky to be always motivated to solve problems using  synthetic Biology, we want to help in the development of technologies that enable economic advances without contamination and damage to the environment as well as making the application of synthetic biology a technological vanguard for the resolution of environmental problems.
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<i>Our suggestions</i> – Law enforcement should be light to individuals and small groups without licensing, and must be harder over large corporations. There is a need of miners register conditioning to a bearable area, avoiding over mining and consequent environmental   contamination.
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With the "bio-detection and Bioremediation of Mercury" project we sat with the Secretary of State for the Environment (SDS) in order to fight together against the contamination of the metal that is so dangerous to our population, and propose an applicable solution to this. Although the use of mercury in mining is regulated by the State Council of the Environment (CEMAAM) by resolutions 011 and 014 published in 2012, mercury is still used very precariously in the mines throughout Amazonia, leading to chairman reopening the debate on the use of it in the mines, with the objective of evaluating what was the environmental impact to the mining activity. To do so, they began to invest in analysis and research for the advancement of this subject matter, taking into account the application of mercury treatment system using engineered bacteria capable of mercury bioremediate proposed this year for our project!
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<i>2)Limits of Hg per area</i> – Limits are based per person and not on the mining area range.
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Our suggestions – Limits of Mercury should be based by scientific means and conditioning by the exploration range.
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Other aspects pointed out:
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<p><i>3) Lack of inspection and impunity </i>– There is few inspectors in charge, and the size of the Amazon make the task nearly impossible. The small numbers of irregular miners caught are released and not fined, generating a sense of impunity, therefore encouraging them to get back to illegal activities.</p>
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<p><i>Our suggestions</i> – make partnerships with legal private big companies to support inspection by providing boats and small hydroplanes for the task force. Rearing people inside traditional communities to work as inspectors and give them means to inform authorities by fast satellite communication. Regulate it as environmental crime for individuals and not only for big corporations.  </p>
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<p>4) Lack of adequate technologies – mercury amalgamation is a primitive and cheap way of harvesting gold. </p>
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<p>Our suggestions – government through Ministry of Science and Technology should give priority to short term and long term researches in this subject, launching a national challenge to science community in order to solve the problem, including using Synthetic Biology. On the other hand we have already at universities and research institutes validated technologies to treat contaminated waters. These should be an alternative supported by the mining industry through fiscal incentives.  </p>
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<p>In counterpart of this fruitful debate, SDS gave us support to do our iGEM work and kept in contact since then with the UFAM-Brazil team, both helping each other to make the subject more visible to the media and therefore to the Amazonian community. </p>
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<p>Our work join the efforts in bio-detection and biorremediation of Mercury used in illegal and legal gold mining and it is our pilot attempt to tackle the issue with SynBio. It’s our way to save and watch our Amazonian rivers, synonymous of life for all us. </p>
<p>The following resolutions 2012 (which are under discussion) on the regulation of mining practices and use of mercury:</p>
<p>The following resolutions 2012 (which are under discussion) on the regulation of mining practices and use of mercury:</p>
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<p><a href="http://www.legisweb.com.br/legislacao/?id=242501" target="_blank">Resolution CEMAAM n° 11 of May 9th 2012</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.legisweb.com.br/legislacao/?id=242501" target="_blank">Resolution CEMAAM n° 11 of May 9th 2012</a></p>
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<p align="center"><img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2014/thumb/a/ad/Ufam_brazil_2014_sds2.jpg/570px-Ufam_brazil_2014_sds2.jpg"></p>
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Our project caught not only the chairman’s attention but also the press. Above UFAM-Brazil team and SDS meeting. Newspaper "Amazonas em tempo".</p>
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<p>Read more: <a href="http://www.correiodaamazonia.com.br/governo-incentiva-pesquisa-de-deteccao-e-remediacao-de-mercurio/
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" target="_blank">Correio da Amazônia</a>, <a href="http://www.bionorte.org.br/noticias/projeto-de-pesquisa-de-deteccao-e-remediacao-de-mercurio.htm" target="_blank">Bionorte</a>, <a href="http://www.amazonianarede.com.br/pesquisa-sobre-mercurio-e-incentivada-pelo-governo-amazonas/" target="_blank">Amazônia na rede</a>.</p>
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Latest revision as of 15:23, 17 October 2014

Regulations on use of Mercury in the Amazon

Getting Closer to the Environmental Secretary of Amazonas State (SDS)

With the Environmental Secretary of Amazonas State (SDS) we fought together against Mercury (Hg) contamination proposing an applicable solution to this, using Synthetic Biology. Although the use of mercury in mining is regulated by the Environment State Council (CEMAAM) by resolutions 011 and 014 published in 2012, Mercury is still being used in a very precariously way in the gold activity throughout Amazon.

Our project caught the chairman’s attention (in the pic above at the center with red shirt!) and reopening the debate on the use of Mercury element in the gold mining industry in the State of Amazonas.

For that reason the UFAM-BRAZIL team was invited to discuss the subject at the SDS office and together evaluate the environmental impact caused by indiscriminated use of Mercury in our region. In that occasion we were given the regulation documents for Hg use in gold mining. We invested time analyzing the papers and verified some points of fragility in the law such as:

1)Very broad scope of the law – the legislation has the same weight to individual or small mining groups and large mining corporations.

Our suggestions – Law enforcement should be light to individuals and small groups without licensing, and must be harder over large corporations. There is a need of miners register conditioning to a bearable area, avoiding over mining and consequent environmental contamination.

2)Limits of Hg per area – Limits are based per person and not on the mining area range. Our suggestions – Limits of Mercury should be based by scientific means and conditioning by the exploration range.

Other aspects pointed out:

3) Lack of inspection and impunity – There is few inspectors in charge, and the size of the Amazon make the task nearly impossible. The small numbers of irregular miners caught are released and not fined, generating a sense of impunity, therefore encouraging them to get back to illegal activities.

Our suggestions – make partnerships with legal private big companies to support inspection by providing boats and small hydroplanes for the task force. Rearing people inside traditional communities to work as inspectors and give them means to inform authorities by fast satellite communication. Regulate it as environmental crime for individuals and not only for big corporations.

4) Lack of adequate technologies – mercury amalgamation is a primitive and cheap way of harvesting gold.

Our suggestions – government through Ministry of Science and Technology should give priority to short term and long term researches in this subject, launching a national challenge to science community in order to solve the problem, including using Synthetic Biology. On the other hand we have already at universities and research institutes validated technologies to treat contaminated waters. These should be an alternative supported by the mining industry through fiscal incentives.

In counterpart of this fruitful debate, SDS gave us support to do our iGEM work and kept in contact since then with the UFAM-Brazil team, both helping each other to make the subject more visible to the media and therefore to the Amazonian community.

Our work join the efforts in bio-detection and biorremediation of Mercury used in illegal and legal gold mining and it is our pilot attempt to tackle the issue with SynBio. It’s our way to save and watch our Amazonian rivers, synonymous of life for all us.

The following resolutions 2012 (which are under discussion) on the regulation of mining practices and use of mercury:

Resolution CEMAAM n° 11 of May 9th 2012

Resolution CEMAAM n° 14 of Oct 18th 2012

Our project caught not only the chairman’s attention but also the press. Above UFAM-Brazil team and SDS meeting. Newspaper "Amazonas em tempo".

Read more: Correio da Amazônia, Bionorte, Amazônia na rede.