Gold demand puts Peru's Amazon at greater risk from mercury poisoning, bishop warns

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — As gold prices hover at record highs, a leading Catholic leader in Peru’s Amazon is urging countries that are destinations for the precious metal to help stem illegal mining that is poisoning rivers with mercury.

Miguel Ángel Cadenas, an Augustinian from Spain who has lived in Peru’s Amazon for three decades, said illegal mining has surged since the COVID-19 pandemic, citing the Tigre, Nanay, Napo and Putumayo rivers as some areas where communities are at risk.

Tests have found mercury levels in some fish above World Health Organization limits, and hair samples from local residents analyzed by scientists and doctors also showed elevated concentrations.

“We are in a delicate situation,” Cadenas told The Associated Press. “Given that the Amazonian diet is rich in fish, we are talking about food insecurity.”

Mercury is widely used to separate gold during small-scale mining. It contaminates water, accumulates in fish, and builds up in people’s bodies, leading to neurological and developmental harm. Cadenas said the health risks are especially acute in the Amazon, where medical services are scarce.

Research in Peru’s Madre de Dios region found that 43% of women of childbearing age had mercury levels above WHO safety limits, while hair samples in villages along Peru’s Amazon riverways showed nearly 80% of residents exceeded the threshold.

“The majority of people do not understand what is happening. There is barely any information,” Cadenas said. “The state should first provide good information to its own population and then sources of food that allow other alternatives — which do not exist.”

Gold prices are soaring — analysts expect them to average around $3,675 per ounce by late 2025 with possible gains toward $4,000 by 2026, according to JPMorgan.

Analysts say weak traceability systems make it easier for illegally mined gold to slip into global markets. Reports from Switzerland and sustainability researchers focused on environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards say gold tainted with mercury in places like the Amazon is often laundered through refineries before entering jewelry, electronics or national reserves.

Cadenas, who served as a missionary and bishop before being appointed in 2021 to lead the Apostolic Vicariate of Iquitos, stressed that Peru cannot handle the problem alone.

“As long as the price of gold continues to rise, it is very difficult for a national government to manage this situation,” he said. He pointed to gold-buying nations including China, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and Switzerland.

“The first responsibility should be that those countries buying gold require traceability, so that it is not possible to pass illegal gold into legality so easily,” he said.

Cadenas also warned of growing violence, especially against local environmental defenders in the Amazon region.

Across the Amazon, environmental defenders are frequently targeted — Colombia has led the world in killings for several years, while Peru also ranks among the most dangerous places to speak out against illegal mining and logging.

“There are people who are being threatened with death, and this seems extremely serious to me,” he said, citing reports that illegal miners in remote areas are tied to armed groups, including Colombian FARC dissidents.

Peru has at times tried to rein in illegal mining and mercury use. In 2019 it launched Operation Mercury, a military-police crackdown that sharply reduced deforestation in the La Pampa mining zone, though much of the activity later shifted elsewhere. Authorities also announced record seizures of contraband mercury, including a four-ton shipment at Callao port this year.

Still, Indigenous groups say enforcement is inconsistent, and regional governments across the Amazon warn that cross-border smuggling of mercury continues to fuel illegal mining.

The city of Iquitos hosted the Amazon Water Summit last week, which the vicariate helped organize. Roughly 400 people from Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Brazil took part in 14 workshops on topics including water and extractivism, climate change and education.

Cadenas noted that Loreto, Peru’s largest Amazonian department, has the country’s lowest access to drinking water — with about 60% of the population lacking potable water and sanitation. Peru’s Constitutional Court ruled two years ago that this amounted to an “unconstitutional state of affairs,” but he said the judgment has yet to be fulfilled.

Cadenas, who said he knows Pope Leo XIV — who spent years in Peru as a missionary and later bishop — fears the situation will worsen unless international action curbs demand for illicit gold.

“Every day that passes there are more people dedicated to illegal mining. While there isn’t serious international pressure, it will be very difficult,” he warned.

Still, he directed a personal plea to those driving the destruction.

“Earning money is fine, but it cannot be at the cost of injustice and the lives of the poorest,” he said.

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Participants attend an Amazon Water Summit in Iquitos, Peru, Oct. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Junior Raborg)

Bishop Miguel Ángel Cadenas speaks while attending an Amazon Water Summit in Iquitos, Peru, Oct. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Junior Raborg)

Clouds are reflected in the Tahuayo River, a tributary of the Amazon River, near the city of Iquitos, Peru on Sept. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Junior Raborg)

Bishop Miguel Ángel Cadenas attends an Amazon Water Summit in Iquitos, Peru, Oct. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Junior Raborg)

The NFL set a record for fewest punts per game in 2025, and wild-card weekend was filled with fourth-down fun and folly as punters were mostly spectators, especially Chicago's Tory Taylor, who never stepped off the sideline in the Bears' come-from-behind win over the Green Bay Packers.

In all, teams converted 15 of 29 fourth down attempts on wild-card weekend, when there were only 41 punts, nine of them Monday night in the Houston Texans' 30-6 rout of Aaron Rodgers and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Bears first-year coach Ben Johnson was particularly aggressive, going for it a half-dozen times on fourth down Saturday night, including two backfires in the first half that led to a pair of Green Bay touchdowns and put the Bears in a 21-3 halftime hole.

Caleb Williams was intercepted on fourth-and-6 from the Packers 40-yard line, leading to Jordan Love's 18-yard touchdown throw, and Williams threw incomplete on fourth-and-5 from his own 32. That one led to Love's TD throw on fourth-and-goal from the Bears 2 that gave Green Bay an 18-point halftime cushion.

The Packers couldn't capitalize on another turnover on downs by Chicago just before halftime because Brandon McManus missed a 55-yard field goal on the final play after Williams threw incomplete deep on fourth-and-4 from the Green Bay 37.

When Prime Video's sideline reporter Kaylee Hartung asked the Bears' coach about his aggressive approach and going for it on fourth down multiple times on his own side of the field, Johnson replied, “Yeah, we want to maximize our possessions and we want to go for fourth-down plays."

Her follow-up was about how to slow down Green Bay's efficient offense.

“That's a big reason why we're being aggressive on offense, so that we can extend our drives and score points ourselves,” Johnson said. “It's a really good offense we're going against.”

Although the Bears would convert just twice on their six fourth downs — Green Bay was 3 for 3 on fourth down — that strategy paid off in the end. Williams threw a 27-yard pass to Rome Odunze to the Packers' 30-yard line, which led to the TD that pulled Chicago to 27-24 with 4:21 remaining.

Johnson said the game plan featured an aggressive fourth-down mentality, and "I think where it gets misconstrued is, there’s a lack of confidence in your defense when you do that. I think the opposite, I think it’s because I have confidence in our defense and their ability to stop teams in the red zone."

“I’m never going to apologize for being aggressive or doing things that might be a little unorthodox,” Johnson added, "if it’s what we deem is best for us to win a ballgame.”

Johnson was the Lions' offensive coordinator when Detroit blew a 17-point halftime lead and lost the NFC championship to San Francisco 34-31 after the 2023 season. In that game, Lions coach Dan Campbell went for it on fourth down twice in field-goal range but came up short, later saying he'd do it again if he could.

Those failures didn't curtail the Lions' aggressive fourth-down philosophy, one that Johnson took to Chicago when he was hired by the Bears a year ago.

He had plenty of company over the weekend as a trend from the regular season continued. There were just 3.55 punts per game per team this season and that figure fell in the first round of the playoffs with teams averaging just 3.41 punts per game.

The Panthers and Rams got the fun going Saturday when early fourth-down failures led to touchdowns by each team.

Trevor Lawrence thought he had the first down when the Jaguars went for it on fourth-and-2 from the Buffalo 9 only to see the review reveal his shin had hit the ground shy of the first-down marker, a fourth-down faux pas that proved pivotal in Jacksonville's 27-24 loss to the Bills.

The Bills twice went for it on fourth-and-1 deep in Jaguars territory. Josh Allen had a four-yard keeper on the first one and was carried nine yards on an astonishing tush push to the 1 that also led to a Buffalo touchdown.

The 49ers didn't attempt a single fourth-down conversion in their 23-19 win at Philadelphia, where the Eagles were 3-for-5 on fourth down.

The Patriots converted their only fourth-down try, on fourth-and-4 from the Chargers' 30, which led to a field goal. When the Chargers took a delay after failing to induce an offsides call and then punted from midfield, NBC analyst Cris Collinsworth said, “I think Jim Harbaugh's been watching the games this weekend.”

And when Steelers coach Mike Tomlin chose to take the three points with a 32-yard field goal try rather that chancing it on fourth-and-3 from the Houston 14 Monday night, ESPN analyst Troy Aikman commented: “We're in a time as we all know when a lot of offenses would be going for it. ... But points are going to be (at) a premium. You've got two defenses that are capable of dominating their opponent. Get 'em when you can.”

Well, points certainly were at a premium for Pittsburgh, which hung in there most of the night before the Texans' 23-0 fourth-quarter blitz in what might have been Rodgers' farewell game.

If so, Rodgers' final pass was a pick-6 by safety Calen Bullock, whose 50-yard interception return for a touchdown came on ... you guessed it, fourth down.

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Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson reacts during the first half of an NFL wild-card playoff football game against the Green Bay Packers Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Nam Huh)