Study of the generation of mercury steam

The study of the generation of mercury vapors in the extraction of gold, and its effects on the workers of the Pucará mining area, aims to investigate one of the little treated contamination factors, such as exposure to metallic mercury vapor, in the artisanal processes of gold extraction in our region, specifically in the Pucará canton. The results focus on the demonstration that there are dangerous levels of this pollutant during the processes of amalgamation of gold with mercury and its distillation recovery. The project aims to raise awareness about workers, employers and involved, on the risk involved in using this method of gold extraction. The methodology raises the use of tubes that contain material sensitive to the presence of this pollutant in the air and that is of direct and immediate measurement.

7th UNIVERSITY PROJECT COMPETITION, 2nd RESEARCH PROGRAM COMPETITION