We Must Solve the Problem of Toxic Mercury

RAPAPORT... Roughly 14 million to 19 million people work as artisanaland small-scale gold miners (ASGM) in developing countries, according to a 2017study. Many of them use mercury, a permanent, potent neurotoxin, in order to bemarginally efficient in capturing gold. These people mine to live, and in theprocess, they inadvertently release more than 8,000 pounds of mercury into ourenvironment every day, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)estimates. They are poisoning themselves and the rest of us as mercury vaporsand micro-particles are transported globally on winds and ocean currents. ASGM produce approximately 20% of the world gold supply eachyear, and the jewelry industry purchases more than half the annual production.We are the primary buyers and sellers of gold mined with mercury, and wehaven't yet found a way out of this potential quagmire. Opportunity to disrupt That said, working toward a solution may be the greatestopportunity the jewelry industry has ever had. We can be the vanguard of changeby publicly declaring our commitment to discovering a viable replacement for mercuryand creating a clean gold supply chain, while empowering the world's artisanalgold miners. We can innovate and disrupt ourselves in a way that captures theworld's attention and earns its respect. "If disruption is going to define the next chapter of thejewelry industry, then the ability to create and sustain innovative, meaningfuland powerful connections with our customers will determine who succeeds and whodoes not," said Signet Jewelers CEO Gina Drosos in her keynote address at thisyear's JCK Las Vegas show. "Business as usual is insufficient. We must leaddisruptive innovation now." While the innovations I propose may be different from whatshe had in mind, it is clear that we must transform if we are going to thrive. The business of caringA fundamental aspect of being human is the desire tocontribute to others and to the quality of life. Our industry has been built on- and prides itself on being the business of - celebration, acknowledgment,appreciation, connection and love. But there's an aspect of our trade we've been unable tocelebrate fully. Artisanal gold miners have supported our businesses andlifestyles for hundreds of years, and it's about time we told their story andacknowledged their contribution. It's time we let the world know we care aboutour industry partners and their health, and are committed to finding a way theycan mine safely and profitably. Our customers don't buy what we do, they buy why we do it.They want to be inspired and have an emotional connection with us. They want tofeel our passion and know we care about something more than just selling themshiny things so we can make a profit - namely, that we care about these miners,our environment and the future of life on the planet. A three-pronged planTo that end, I propose we commit toimplementing three industry-disrupting innovations. By following through onthese commitments, we will establish a deep emotional bond with our customersand boost their perception of us as a creative, responsible and caringindustry. Let's begin by acknowledging the massive global problem oftoxic mercury in our gold supply chain, and sharing it with the world. We'remuch better off publicly addressing these concerns ourselves than having themedia conduct an expos?(C). Such forthright authenticity will engender new levelsof trust and respect for jewelers. Second, let's take a bold stand on solving this problem byincentivizing scientists, engineers and innovators to come up with a safe,effective, affordable and scalable replacement for mercury in ASGM. Finally, let's acknowledge and celebrate our artisanal goldminers, declaring our commitment to their health, well-being and prosperity, aswell as the well-being of all life. By marshaling the world's technological prowess, utilizingour massive computational power and crowd-sourcing the knowledge of 3.2 billionpeople online, we can discover a material or process superior to mercury forartisanal miners. We can empower ASGM and their families, dramatically reduceglobal mercury pollution, bring about a responsible gold supply chain, andcontribute to the health of all people and the global environment.Together, we can make a greater difference than we've everdreamed possible and have our businesses thrive. Toby Pomeroy is a designer and goldsmith, as well as the founder of anOregon-based sustainable-jewelry brand that bears his name. He is also anactivist for social and environmental responsibility in the jewelry industry.He is on the board of the Alliance for Responsible Mining (ARM) - which createdthe Fairmined Gold Standard - and founded the Mercury Free Mining Challenge, aglobal call to engineers, scientists and academics to discover a safe,effective alternative to mercury. mercuryfreemining.orgThis article first was first published in the August 2018issue of Rapaport Magazine. Image: A family living in the Zaragoza region of Peru. Credit: Nigel Wright