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Government response to high levels of mercury in Amerindian communities?
Dear Editor,
In follow-up to the letter in KN by Immaculata Casimero about high levels of mercury in women at Parabara in South Rupununi ‘our oil wealth should not come at the cost of Indigenous women’s health’, 6th July, 2026; the medical report on Chinese Landing from August 2023 should be remembered. During the government’s ‘fact-finding’ mission to Chinese Landing, blood and urine samples were taken from 23 individuals, 12 males and 11 females. It is conventional to assess mercury load from samples of hair follicles but the government medical team of three doctors were not so equipped. The laboratory analyses were reported by Dr. Steven Cheefoon, Regional Health Officer for Region 1, in a 20-page document.
The lab analyses used a procedure by Quest Diagnostics, and cited a Blood Exposure Index of 15 microgrammes of total inorganic mercury per litre of blood as a normal level. Grouping the 23 results in class sizes of 15 microgrammes –
| Class limits, microgrammes of
total inorganic mercury per litre |
0-15 | 16-30 | 31-45 | 46-60 | 61-75 | 76-90 | 91+ |
| Number of samples
At Chinese Landing |
5 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| Males | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Females | 4 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Only five people out of 23 had safe levels of mercury in blood, and one person had 10-times the safe level. What did Dr. Steven Cheefoon conclude? ‘Considering the results collectively, there doesn’t appear to be an alarming trend towards mercury toxicity’. Yes, in the sense that no samples reached the acute toxicity level of 200 microgrammes per litre. But no, in the sense that 78 per cent of the sampled Amerindians had unsafe levels. Echoing what Immaculata Casimiro said yesterday, I ask our responsible government that claims to be promoting One Guyana to let us know what follow up interventions have been carried out in Chinese Landing and any/other hinterland communities located in and downstream of mining operations. Please also inform the affected communities, the upcoming meeting of the National Toshaos Council (20-24 July), the GGDMA, and the Guyanese people about the results from larger sampling sizes and anti-mercury treatments.
Yours truly,
Janette Bulkan
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