ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE

Volume 00, Number 00, 2019

ª Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.
DOI: 10.1089/env.2018.0039

Geocide, Ecocide, and Genocidal Type Outcomes

from Large-Scale Open Pit Mountaintop Gold Mining
in the Outskirts of Paracatu, Brazil

Sergio Ulhoa Dani, Claudio Renato Genaro Malavolta, Marcio José dos Santos,
Paulo Mauricio Serrano-Neves,{ and Laure Terrier
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ABSTRACT

In 1987, large-scale open pit mountaintop gold mining was initiated in the outskirts of the Paracatu town,
Minas Gerais, Brazil. The mine hard rocks contain low-grade gold ore (average 0.4 g gold/ton ore) and
abnormally high amounts of arsenopyrite (FeAsS; average 1000 g/ton ore). Since 2005, the mine has been
operated solely by Canadian Kinross Gold Corporation (KGC-NYSE, K-TSX) through its local subsidiary.
The poorly controlled mining activities release FeAsS and its weathering products from the rocks as
particulate matter, gas, and solutes that contaminate the air, soils, surface water and ground water. As of
2016, the cumulative inorganic arsenic throughput of the mine was estimated at 735,000 ton. In this article,
we present the first series of sentinel cases of chronic arsenic intoxication (CAsI) in Paracatu. Despite
mounting evidence for wanton widespread environmental degradation, large-scale environmental contami-
nation, chronic mass intoxication, and persistent human rights abuse, a number of public and private lawsuits
failed to halt Kinross’ activities in Paracatu. The ongoing environmental and humanitarian disaster and
unlawful abuses in Paracatu that degrade the environment and victimize thousands of people have prospered
unchallenged and cannot be stopped locally due to officials’ collusion with large economic interests,
powerful political interferences, facilitation payments, willful blindness, and toxicological greenwashing.

Keywords: arsenic, gold mining, ecocide, geocide, genocide

INTRODUCTION the Canadian Kinross Gold Corporation’s (TSX: K,

NYSE: KGC) wholly owned subsidiary Kinross Brasil

I n 1987, large-scale open pit mountaintop gold

mining activities were initiated in the outskirts of
Paracatu town, MG, Brazil. The Paracatu mine is Brazil’s
largest gold mine, and it is 100% owned and operated by
Dr. Sergio Ulhoa Dani is Principal Scientist/Physician at
Medawar Institute for Medical and Environmental Research,
Acangau Foundation, Paracatu, Brazil.
Mr. Claudio Renato Genaro Malavolta is Physician at Para-
catu Municipal Hospital, Paracatu, Brazil.
Prof. Marcio José dos Santos is Senior Associate Geologist at
Medawar Institute for Medical and Environmental Research,
Acangau Foundation, Paracatu, Brazil.
Cmd. Paulo Mauricio Serrano-Neves is Senior Associate
Criminal Justice Consultant at Medawar Institute for Medical and
Environmental Research, Acangau Foundation, Paracatu, Brazil.
Dr. Laure Terrier is Associate Jurist at Medawar Institute for
Medical and Environmental Research, Acangau Foundation,
Paracatu, Brazil.
{
In memoriam.
Mineração S.A. (KBM). The mine hard rocks contain
high amounts of arsenopyrite (FeAsS), the most common
arsenic-bearing mineral found worldwide.1 According to
Kinross, the average gold content in the Paracatu mine is
0.4 g/ton of ore, whereas the inorganic arsenic (iAs)
content averages 1000 g/ton of ore.2 The mine operator
conducts open pit mining using dozers, front-end loaders,
and conventional haul trucks. There is a processing plant
utilizing an in-pit crusher, SAG mill, ball mills, a flotation
circuit, gravity plant, and an expanded carbon-in-leach and
1
Webmineral. Arsenopyrite Mineral Data. 2017. <http://
webmineral.com/data/Arsenopyrite.shtml#.V0CBoZF97IU>.
(Last accessed February 3, 2017).
2
RD Henderson. Paracatu Mine Technical Report. Kinross
Gold Corporation; July 31, 2006. <www.kinross.com/
operations/pdf/Technical-Report-Paracatu.pdf>. (Last accessed
February 3, 2017).

1
 2 DANI ET AL.
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FIG. 1. The Paracatu town (bottom of the picture) and
the Kinross gold mine facilities (middle and upper part of
the picture) are a geographical unit. The first tailings
pond at the upper right part of the picture shows up with
its surface dried up in this January, 2017, satellite image
from Google Maps. For a video of the dust emanating
from this tailings pond, the reader is referred to (http://
professor-marciosantos.blogspot.ch/2016/08/poeira-toxica-
em-paracatu.html).
refinery system.3 Gold cyanidation with sodium cyanide is
the metallurgical technique used by Kinross for extracting
gold from the low-grade ore of the Paracatu mine (Fig. 1).
OBJECTIVES
This article aims at reviewing the ongoing damage to
the environment and human health from open pit
mountaintop gold mining in the outskirts of Paracatu,
Minas Gerais, Brazil, after three decades of uninterrupted
mining activity, in light of geological, environmental,
medical, and juridical evidence. We present evidence of
crimes against humanity including geocide and ecocide
with genocidal type outcomes from large-scale open pit
mountaintop gold mining during the past three decades in
Paracatu, in our capacity of attending physicians (S.U.D.
3 4
Kinross Gold Corporation. Kinross Gold Announces 45
Percent Revenue Growth and Record Earnings of $65.6 Million
in Second Quarter. Production on Target and Operating Cash
Flow Up 210 Percent. $470 Million Paracatu Expansion En-
hances Future Gold Production. 2006a. <www.prnewswire.com/
news-releases/kinross-gold-announces-45-percent-revenue-growth-
and-record-earnings-of-656-million-in-second-quarter-55940442
.html>. (Last accessed February 3, 2017).
and C.R.G.M.), geologist (M.J.S.), doctor of law (L.T.),
and criminologist (P.M.S.N.).
METHODS
The case milestones are reported in chronological or-
der, supported by documented evidence. To estimate the
amount of iAs released by the mining activity in Para-
catu, we used the mine output data reported by Kinross
Gold Corporation in their annual reports. From Novem-
ber 2015 to February 2017, we conducted sentinel sur-
veillance of chronic arsenic intoxication (CAsI) in
Paracatu. We present the first series of sentinel CAsI
cases in Paracatu. For confirmation of CAsI, the diag-
nostic patient specimens were sent to regional laborato-
ries for analyses or to European laboratories. The
analysis of total iAs in the human compartment was
performed by inductively coupled plasma mass spec-
trometry (ICP-MS) and/or inductively coupled plasma-
sector field mass spectrometry (ICP-SFMS) (EN ISO
17294-1,2 and Environmental Protection Agency [EPA]
method 200.8), atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS),
and/or Merckoquant Arsenic Test Strips (Merck,
Darmstadt, Germany) in two consecutive urine samples,
and calculations were performed as elsewhere reported.4
To estimate the patient’s skeleton dry weight (eSW), the
equation eSW (g) = 0.07 · (BW) · 1000 was used, where
ideal body weight (BW) was established based on a body
frame-corrected body mass index varying between 21
and 25 kg/m2, and the fraction of BW was based on
Heymsfield et al.5 To establish the iAs:phosphorus ratio
(iAs:P), we estimated the skeleton P content (eSP) as eSP
(g) = eSW · 0.7 · 0.185, considering 70% bone mineral
matrix and a 18.5% P content thereof. To clinically
confirm the CAsI in our sentinel cases, we applied the
CAsIDS—chronic arsenic intoxication diagnostic score.6
CHRONOLOGY
Gold production at Paracatu commenced in October,
1987, by the mine operator Rio Paracatu Mineração
(RPM) treating oxidized and highly weathered ore. The
first gold bar was poured in December 1987. The fol-
lowing year, the mine throughput reached the design
capacity of 6.1 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa). After
start up, the throughput rate was progressively increased
to 13 Mtpa. Throughput at Paracatu was increased again
to 16 Mtpa in 1997 after completion of Expansion
Project I. Expansion Project II (1999) increased the mill
throughput to 20 Mtpa. Owing to an increase in ore
hardness, throughput has progressively fallen to the 18
SU Dani. 2013. ‘‘Osteoresorptive Arsenic Intoxication.’’
Bone 53 (2013): 541–545.
5
S Heymsfield, T Lohman, Z Wang, and S Going. Human
Body Composition. (Human Kinetics Publishers, Champaign,
Illinois, 2005), 291.
6
SU Dani and GF Walter. ‘‘Chronic Arsenic Intoxication
Diagnostic Score (CAsIDS).’’ Journal of Applied Toxicology 38
(2018): 122–144.
 GEOCIDE, ECOCIDE, AND GENOCIDAL TYPE OUTCOMES IN PARACATU, BRAZIL
FIG. 2. Annual and cumulative iAs
throughput at the Paracatu open pit
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gold mine since its start up in 1987
until 2016. The data are based on the
average 0.1% iAs content of the actual
mine ore throughput as reported by
Kinross Gold Corporation in its annual
technical reports.
Mtpa level.7 In 2004, the mine operator began blasting
harder portions of the deposit exposed in certain areas of
the mine.
The mining activities release FeAsS from the hard
rocks as finely ground particles, and the industrial pro-
cesses employed to obtain gold from the ore further re-
lease a number of iAs compounds from FeAsS. In
addition, the bare mine surface and the tailings resulting
from the mining processes are subject to weathering that
further releases iAs in the form of fine particulate matter,
gas, and solutes, into the environment. Figure 2 shows
the amount of iAs released from the hard rock since
1987, based on the reported ore throughput multiplied by
the reported ore average iAs content. A 2002 analysis
performed by the mine operator and CETEM (a Brazilian
governmental research institute) has shown that <30% of
the iAs released from the mine rocks can be recovered
and appropriately dumped by the mine operator in the so
called specific tanks, which are reportedly lined with an
7
Kinross Gold Corporation. Paracatu Mine Technical Report.
Prepared by: W. Hanson P. Geo, Vice President, Technical
Services, Kinross Gold Corporation; March 30, 2006. <www
.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/701818/000118811206000963/tex99_
1-9640.txt>. (Last accessed February 3, 2017).
3
impermeable layer.8 The rest of the iAs—the largest part
of it, anyway—is dumped in large tailing ponds.
On January 31, 2003, the mine operator Kinross Gold
Corporation acquired a 49% ownership interest in the
Paracatu open pit mine, in the acquisition of TVX Gold,
Inc./Echo Bay Mines Ltd. on December 31, 2004, Kin-
ross completed the purchase of the mine from British–
Australian multinational Rio Tinto Plc, and launched the
Expansion Project III aiming to triple the ore throughput
to the design capacity of 61 Mtpa.9 The corresponding iAs
throughput, estimated on the basis of the 0.1% iAs content
of the ore, as reported by the mine operator, tripled to
61,000 ton iAs per year. In fact, the ore throughput has
increased exponentially from 2007 and the cumulative
8
MBM Monte, FF Lins, AJB Dutra, CRF Albuquerque, and LA
Tondo. The Influence of the Oxidation State of Pyrite and Ar-
senopyrite on the Flotation of an Auriferous Sulfide Ore. CT2002-
195-00 Comunicação técnica elaborada para o periódico Minerals
Engineering. CETEM-Centro de Tecnologia Mineral, MCT-
Ministério da Ciência e Tecnologia, Coordenação de Inovação
Técnológica—CTEC, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; December, 2002.
9
Kinross Gold Corporation. 2014. Annual Report. Delivering
Results: Operational Excellence—Balance Sheet Strength—
Responsible Mining. <http://2014annualreport.kinross.com/pdf/
annual-report-2014.pdf>. (Last accessed February 3, 2017).
 4 DANI ET AL.
iAs throughput of the mine reached estimated 735,000
ton as of December 2016.10,11,12,13,14
FeAsS, the main source of iAs in the Paracatu gold mine,
is inherently toxic15,16 and can be gradually converted into
other toxic arsenic compounds through weathering under
normal environmental conditions, and at infinitely in-
creased rates under mining conditions that increase both iAs
mobilization in the environment and iAs bioavailability
upon ingestion, skin contact, or inhalation.17,18 Metabolic
studies of FeAsS showed that it is converted to products
such as arsenous acid, arsenic acid, methyl arsenate, and
dimethyl arsenate, which are identical to those generated
from As2O3. Although these metabolic products are formed
at a lower rate in normal conditions, they nonetheless show
that FeAsS should be considered a carcinogen.19
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Arsenic is the single most potent naturally occurring
persistent widespread environmental toxic agent acting
upon exposed populations worldwide,20,21,22 and humans
are more susceptible to the toxic effects of arsenic than
10
Kinross Gold Corporation. 2010 Annual Report. <www
.annualreports.com/HostedData/AnnualReportArchive/K/TSX_
K_2010.pdf>. (Last accessed February 3, 2017).
11
Kinross Gold Corporation. 2012 Annual Report. <http://
2012annualreport.kinross.com/#/download-pdfs/>. (Last ac-
cessed February 2, 2017).
12
Kinross Gold Corporation. 2015 Annual Report. <http://
s2.q4cdn.com/496390694/files/ar/2015/index.html>. (Last ac-
cessed February 3, 2017).
13
Kinross Gold Corporation. Quarterly Report. 2016a. <www
.kinross.com/news-and-investors/news-releases/press-release-
details/2016/Kinross-reports-2016-third-quarter-results/default
.aspx>. (Last accessed February 3, 2017).
14
Kinross Gold Corporation. Quarterly Report. 2016b. <www
.kinross.com/home/news-and-investors/default.aspx>. (Last ac-
cessed February 3, 2017).
15
J Cervini-Silva, A Nieto-Camacho, V Gomez-Vidales, and
MT Ramı́rez-Apán. ‘‘Oxidative Stress Induced by Arsenopyrite
and the Role of Desferrioxamine-B as Radical Scavenger.’’
Chemosphere 90 (2013): 1779–1784.
16
AD Harrington, A Smirnov, SE Tsirka, and MA Schoonen.
‘‘Metal-Sulfide Mineral Ores, Fenton Chemistry and Disease—
Particle Induced Inflammatory Stress Response in Lung Cells.’’
International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health 218
(2015): 19–27.
17
RH Lara, LJ Velázquez, J Vazquez-Arenas, M Mallet, M
Dossot, I Labastida, FS Sosa-Rodrı́guez, LF Espinosa-Cristóbal,
MA Escobedo-Bretado, and R Cruz. ‘‘Arsenopyrite Weathering
Under Conditions of Simulated Calcareous Soil.’’ Environ-
mental Science and Pollution Research 23 (2016): 3681–3706.
18
PN Mandaliev, C Mikutta, K Barmettler, T Kotsev, and R
Kretzschmar. ‘‘Arsenic Species Formed from Arsenopyrite
Weathering Along a Contamination Gradient in Circumneutral
River Floodplain Soils.’’ Environmental Science & Technology
48 (2014): 208–217.
19
YT Liu YT and Z Chen. ‘‘A Retrospective Lung Cancer
Mortality Study of People Exposed to Insoluble Arsenic and
Radon.’’ Lung Cancer 14 Suppl 1 (1996): S137–S148.
20
BK Mandal and KZ Suzuk. ‘‘Arsenic Round the World: A
Review.’’ Talanta 58 (2002): 201–235.
21
MF Naujokas, B Anderson, H Ahsan, HV Aposhian, JH
Graziano, C Thompson, and WA Suk. ‘‘The Broad Scope of
Health Effects from Chronic Arsenic Exposure: Update on a
Worldwide Public Health Problem.’’ Environmental Health
Perspectives 121 (2013): 295–302.
22
SU Dani. ‘‘Gold, Coal and Oil.’’ Medical Hypotheses 74
(2010): 534–541.
any other mammal so far studied.23 Despite FeAsS and
its weathering products being toxic and environmentally
persistent, the Brazilian environmental authorities do not
conduct or publish any regular environmental monitoring
or report of the mining activities in Paracatu, leaving this
task to the mine operator itself and its contractors.
According to the Workers’ Union of the Mineral Ex-
traction Industry in Paracatu, only after a requirement
made by the Workers’ Union in 2001 did the mine oper-
ator recognize the iAs exposure in its Paracatu mine as an
occupational risk.24 The first published estimates of the
amounts of iAs released by the mining operations and
transported through windblown dust to Paracatu were
provided by the mine operator, Rio Tinto/RPM, in its 2003
‘‘Sustainable Development Report.’’25 These were rough
estimates based on total suspended particulate (TSP)
matter monitoring results obtained from high volume
samplers (PM10) installed and maintained by the mine
operator at different points in the town of Paracatu. Ac-
cording to the said report, the amounts of iAs contained in
the TSP (PM10) in Paracatu would have increased from
3.42 kg in 2001 to 5.79 kg in 2002 to 6.10 kg in 2003.
After completion of the purchase of the mine in 2004,
Kinross no longer reported the amounts of iAs recorded by
the air samplers in their annual ‘‘Sustainable Development
Reports.’’ Also, as of April 2017, we are unaware of any
results of urinary arsenic (uAs) monitoring in Kinross’
employees that had been ever published. Results of TSP
(PM10) analyses carried out by the mine operator during the
years 1992–2005 revealed estimated concentrations of iAs
of 50–75 ng/m3 (50 mg PM/m3 · 1–1.5 ng As/mg PM).26 As
for comparison, we cite the 2008 study by Yoshikawa
et al.27 who found a significantly increased standardized
mortality ratio for lung cancer in areas with concentrations
of iAs in air equal to or higher than 1.77 ng/m3.
The mine operator apparently disregarded evidence pro-
vided by at least one study from 1987 showing that arsenic is
much more potent as a carcinogen than indicated by previous
studies, demonstrating the distinction between airborne
23
SU Dani. Acute and Chronic Toxicities of Arsenic in
Selected Mammals Including Man: Some Notes on Doses and
Vulnerabilities. MIMER Notes; November 9, 2009. <http://
sosarsenic.blogspot.ch/2009/11/mimer-notes-november-9-2009
.html>. (Last accessed February 3, 2017).
24
MJ Santos. ‘‘O ouro e a dialética territorial em Paracatu—
MG: opulência e resistência,’’ [‘‘Gold and territorial dialectics
in Paracatu-MG: opulence and resistance’’] (M.Sc. diss., Uni-
versidade Católica de Brası́lia, Brası́lia, Brazil, 2012), 171–173.
25
Rio Tinto Brasil. ‘‘Relatório de Desenvolvimento Sustentá-
vel’’. [‘‘Sustainable Development Report’’] 2003. <www.riotinto
.com/documents/ReportsPublications/2003_socEnv_Brazil.pdf>.
(Last accessed May 10, 2010).
26
Acangau Foundation. Estimates of Inorganic Arsenic Con-
centrations Based on Results of Some Environmental Reports
(‘‘EIA/RIMA’’) Provided by KGC/Kinross Brasil S.A. in the
Civil Action No. 0618120-41.2009.8.13.0470 filed by the
Acangau Foundation against KGC and the Paracatu Municipal
Administration. 2010.
27
M Yoshikawa, K Aoki, N Ebine, M Kusunoki, and A
Okamoto. ‘‘Correlation Between the Arsenic Concentrations in
the Air and the SMR of Lung Cancer.’’ Environmental Health
and Preventive Medicine 13 (2008): 207–218.
 GEOCIDE, ECOCIDE, AND GENOCIDAL TYPE OUTCOMES IN PARACATU, BRAZIL
arsenic and the bioavailability of arsenic, and stressing the
importance of this distinction for risk assessment.28 In the
said study, it has been shown that when a dose–response
relation is based on airborne concentrations of arsenic, it is
clearly concave downward, but when based on urine con-
centrations, it is linear. We are unaware of any epidemio-
logical studies on urinary iAs conducted by the mine operator
in Paracatu, since none has been published. In 2008, the
Federal Labor Public Prosecution Office in Patos de Minas,
MG, established a civil survey that deals with the possible risk
of arsenic contamination of thousands of employees hired by
Kinross and its service providers in Paracatu,29 but as of the
present date, no clinical protocol had yet been developed.
The Canadian mine operator Kinross apparently dis-
regarded the well-known impact of gold mining in FeAsS
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hosted ore, including permanent arsenic seepage from
tailings into the environment in virtually all gold mining
sites all over the World including Canadian sites.30,31,32
The Kinross Expansion Project III in Paracatu was
fiercely opposed by a substantial part of the >80,000
inhabitants of Paracatu and by the medical and scientific
community who alerted the local, state, and federal au-
thorities about the foreseeable impacts of the poorly
controlled mining activities on the environment and
health. In addition, Kinross Expansion Project III ad-
vanced over traditional Quilombola communities. The
Quilombolas are Afro-Brazilians living in rural settle-
ments (quilombos), formed by descendants of enslaved
Africans, who live for the most part from subsistence ag-
riculture in land donated, bought, or occupied for a long
time. The Paracatu Quilombolas already held legal own-
ership rights over their lands, being formally recognized by
the federal government as Quilombolas, and being engaged
in a land claim process to secure collective title to their
territories, when Kinross assumed ownership of the mine
in 2004.33 Despite all these circumstances, the Brazilian
and Canadian governmental authorities strongly supported
the licensing and financing of the project, respectively.
In 2008, a group of Paracatu citizens including physicians,
lawyers, engineers, a geologist, and a politician teamed up to
elaborate the ‘‘Waters Law Proposal’’ that, if approved by
28
PE Enterline, VL Henderson, and GM Marsh. ‘‘Exposure to
Arsenic and Respiratory Cancer. A Reanalysis.’’ American
Journal of Epidemiology 125 (1987): 929–938.
29
Ministério Público do Trabalho do Brasil. Inquérito Civil No.
00188.2008.03.004/0. [‘‘Labor Ministry of Brazil. Civil Inquiry
No. 00188.2008.03.004/0’’], Patos de Minas, MG, Brazil; 2008.
30
ID Clark and KG Raven. ‘‘Sources and Circulation of Water
and Arsenic in the Giant Mine, Yellowknife, NWT, Canada.’’
Isotopes in Environmental and Health Studies 40 (2004): 115–128.
31
H Garelick, H Jones, A Dybowska, and E Valsami-Jones.
‘‘Arsenic Pollution Sources.’’ Reviews of Environmental Con-
tamination and Toxicology 197 (2008): 17–60.
32
CG Jardine, L Banfield, SM Driedger, and CM Furgal.
‘‘Risk Communication and Trust in Decision-Maker Action: A
Case Study of the Giant Mine Remediation Plan.’’ International
Journal of Circumpolar Health 5 (2013): 72.
33
Above Ground and Justiça Global. Swept Aside: An In-
vestigation into Human Rights Abuse at Kinross Gold’s Morro
do Ouro Mine. 2017. <http://aboveground.ngo/wp-content/
uploads/2017/12/Swept-Aside-Kinross-Morro-do-Ouro-report
.pdf>. (Last accessed December 11, 2017).
5
the City Hall, could have impeded Kinross to install its
second tailings pond, the so called Eustaquio tailings facility
that would destroy and pollute the important springs of po-
table water of the Machadinho Valley in Paracatu. In re-
sponse to the people’s pressure against the Expansion Project
III, the Board of Directors of Kinross Gold Corporation an-
nounced the appointment of the former Minas Gerais State
Secretary Wilson Nelio Brumer as a Board Director in Ca-
nada, effective immediately on April 23, 2008.34,35 Between
2003 and 2007—then acting in his capacity as Minas Gerais
State Secretary of Economic Development—Brumer had
actively supported the Kinross Gold Corporation unwar-
ranted expansion of the large-scale open pit gold mine in
Paracatu, backed by the Minas Gerais State government
itself and a World Bank loan.36 During the same period,
Kinross initiated a number of environmental surveys and
intensified its mediatic campaigns to convey the message
that the Expansion Project III did not represent any risk
for the environment or the health of the population.37 The
Waters Law Proposal was eventually dismissed by some
politicians close to Kinross and its contractors.38
In contrast, a number of independent surveys invariably
pointed to a large-scale environmental and health impact of
Kinross mining activities. The analyses carried out on sedi-
ment samples from the brooks and rivers surrounding the
Paracatu gold mine showed concentrations of iAs ranging
from 2 (in pristine brooks and rivers) to 1000 mg/kg (in
brooks and rivers impacted by the large-scale mining activ-
ity).39,40 At various sampling points, the concentrations of
34
Kinross Gold Corporation (KGC). Toronto, April 23, 2008.
Kinross Appoints Wilson N. Brumer to Board of Directors.
2009. <www.kinross.com/news-and-investors/news-releases/press-
release-details/2009/Kinross-appoints-Wilson-N-Brumer-to-Board-
of-Directors/default.aspx>. (Last accessed February 3, 2017).
35
SU Dani SU. Histórias mal contadas. 2009b. <http://
alertaparacatu.blogspot.ch/2009/05/historias-mal-contadas-por-
sergio-ulhoa.html>. (Last accessed February 3, 2017).
36
Minas Gerais. 2007. ‘‘Mina de ouro em Paracatu ganha im-
pulso. Mineradora investe US$ 470 milhões para expandir ativi-
dades no municı́pio. Minas Gerais—Orgão Oficial dos Poderes do
Estado’’ [‘‘Gold mine in Paracatu is gaining momentum. Mining
company invests US $ 470 million to expand activities in the mu-
nicipality. Minas Gerais – Official Journal of the Powers of the
State’’] No. 32, p. 5.
37
MJ Santos. ‘‘O ouro e a dialética territorial em Paracatu—MG:
opulência e resistência,’’ [‘‘Gold and territorial dialectics in Para-
catu-MG: opulence and resistance’’] (M.Sc. diss., Universidade
Católica de Brası́lia, Brası́lia, Brazil, 2012), 171–173.
38
SU Dani and PM Serrano Neves. ‘‘Três homens e um destino’’.
[‘‘Three men and a destiny’’] 2009. <http://alertaparacatu.blog
spot.ch/2009/05/tres-homens-e-um-destino.html>. (Last accessed
February 3, 2017).
39
PAS Moura, PS Rezende, CC Nascentes, LM Costa, and CC
Windmoeller. ‘‘Quantificação e distribuição de arsênio e mercúrio
em sedimentos da Bacia do Rio São Francisco.’’ [‘‘Quantification
and distribution of arsenic and mercury in sediments of the São
Francisco River Basin’’] In: XXII Encontro Regional da Sociedade
Brasileira de Quı́mica, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil; 2008.
40
PS Rezende. ‘‘Avaliação da mobilidade e biodisponibili-
dade de metais traços em sedimentos da Bacia Hidrográfica do
Rio São Francisco’’. [‘‘Evaluation of the mobility and bio-
availability of trace metals in sediments of the São Francisco
River Basin’’]. Chemistry Master diss., UFMG—Universidade
Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil, 2009.
 6 DANI ET AL.
iAs largely exceeded the Brazilian legal reference values. In
addition, the iAs concentrations in the brooks and rivers in-
creased inversely in relation to the distance from the gold
mine, so that the gold mine could unequivocally be identified
as the source of the environmental pollution.
In Mai, 2009, the Federal Public Attorney (FPA) in Brazil
filed a public lawsuit against the Brazilian government li-
censing and monitoring authorities and Kinross relating to
the rights of Quilombola peoples in connection with their
traditional lands being used by Kinross to install its second
tailings impoundment in the Machadinho Valley.41 As part
of the lawsuit, the FPA had applied for an injunction seeking
to enjoin the issuance by the state authority of the permit to
operate the Eustaquio tailings facility, a large earth tailings
dam.42 In March 2010, the FPA’s injunction was denied by
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a member of the Brazilian Higher Court, judge Cesar Asfor
Rocha, for whom ‘‘the risks of severe damage to the
economy (of not issuing a permit to Kinross) were ade-
quately characterized (by Kinross).’’ As a result, the permit
to operate was issued, and the Eustaquio tailings facility has
been operating since July 2012. In December 2013, and
January 2014, the trial court judge issued decisions denying
the FPA’s claim. In the fourth quarter of 2014, the FPA filed
appeals challenging the decisions of the trial court. Kinross
also informs that it has filed its response to the appeals and
will continue to vigorously oppose the public lawsuit.
In September 2009, Acangau Foundation, a private
foundation in Paracatu, filed a precautionary civil action
against the mine operator RPM-Kinross and the Paracatu
municipal government to force them to perform a clini-
cal–epidemiological study of the environmental con-
tamination and chronic intoxication of the population of
Paracatu by arsenic and other contaminants and, even-
tually, interrupt mining operations and immediately ini-
tiate the necessary environmental sanitation and health
care of the affected persons.43 The consequences of the
possible failure of a large tailings impoundment held by
an earth dam was also approached in this civil action.
Kinross and local, state, and federal government officials
opposed this public action, denying any evidence of en-
vironmental contamination in the first place.44
41
Ministério Público Federal. Ação Civil Pública No.
2009.38.06.001018-9. [‘‘Federal Public Ministry. Civil Action No.
2009.38.06.001018-9’’]. Court of Paracatu, MG, Brazil; 2009.
<www.prmg.mpf.mp.br/patosdeminas/portarias-de-icp/200938060
016282_quilombolas/arquivo>. (Last accessed February 3, 2017).
42
Kinross Gold Corporation. Annual Report. Delivering
Results: Operational Excellence—Balance Sheet Strength—
Responsible Mining. 2014. <http://2014annualreport.kinross.com/
pdf/annual-report-2014.pdf>. (Last accessed February 3, 2017).
43
Acangau Foundation. Acangau Foundation vs. RPM/Kin-
ross Brasil Mineração SA and The Paracatu Municipal Admin-
istration. Civil Action No. 0618120-41.2009.8.13.0470. Court of
Paracatu, MG, Brazil; September 9, 2009. <www.serrano.neves
.nom.br/1xACPPTU.pdf>. (Last accessed February 3, 2017).
44
Brazil. MME-Ministério das Minas e Energia. F Bedran, MJA
Correia, LMG Ferreira, MJG Salum. ‘‘Nota técnica 52/2018/
DDSM/SGM, Processo no. 48300.001038/2018-89, Ofı́cio 164/
2018/SGM-MME’’. [‘‘Brazil. MME-Ministry of Mines and En-
ergy. F Bedran, MJA Correia, LMG Ferreira, MJG Salum.
Technical Note 52/2018 / DDSM / SGM, Case no. 48300.001038 /
2018-89, Letter 164/2018 / SGM-MME’’]. 2018.
In 2011, the municipal government of Paracatu, then re-
presented by Mr. Vasco Praça Filho, hired CETEM, an in-
stitute of the Brazilian government for mining research, to
conduct a survey in Paracatu. CETEM was a long-time pro-
vider of services to the mine operator and had no experience in
medical matters. In March 2014, CETEM presented its ‘‘Final
Report’’45 during a public hearing at Paracatu City Hall, a
very unusual way to present scientific work. According to
CETEM, 778 urine samples from people aged 40 years or
older in two different districts in Paracatu presented arsenic
concentrations varying from 0.02 to 27.15 mg/g creatinine
(mean – standard deviation ranging from 2.15 – 2.72 mg/g
creatinine in people living far from the mine, up to 3.55 –
3.46 mg/g creatinine in people living near the gold mine, this
difference being reported by the CETEM team as ‘‘non-
significant,’’ despite a p < 0.001). The erroneous conclusion
of the CETEM report was that the population of Paracatu did
not present any risk of chronic intoxication by iAs. The
Paracatu authorities, including the mayor of Paracatu (Mr.
Olavo Condé), a public prosecutor (Mr. Paulo Campos
Chaves), and some representatives of the Paracatu Prefecture
supported the CETEM report and its conclusions.46 The in-
dependent analysis of the Acangau Foundation of the CE-
TEM report submitted in 2014 to the Public Prosecutor’s
Office and the first instance judge in the context of the
Acangau Public Civil Action revealed that the CETEM report
was full of gross methodological errors on almost every page;
it presented poor inconsistent results and invalid conclu-
sions.47 The reaction of the Public Prosecutor in Paracatu was
to order a general review of the report by the CETEM team, as
well as conducting a phase II survey by the same team.
In 2016, the CETEM team unofficially withdrew the re-
sults of urine measurements reported in their 2013 report on
equipment error claims and presented corrected results
showing 13 samples with uAs concentrations >50 mg/g
creatinine as well as 3 samples with concentrations of uAs
>100 mg/g creatinine.48 The mean corrected uAs
45
Centro de Tecnologia Mineral (CETEM). ‘‘Relatório Final:
Avaliação da contaminação ambiental por arsênio e estudo epide-
miológico da exposição ambiental associada em população humana
de Paracatu-MG’’. Convênio CETEM/FUNCATE. [‘‘Center for
Mineral Technology (CETEM). ‘‘Final Report: Assessment of the
environmental contamination by arsenic and epidemiological study
of the associated environmental exposure in the human population
of Paracatu-MG’’. Agreement CETEM / FUNCATE]. Belo Hor-
izonte: CETEM, 2013, version 1, 78.
46
SU Dani. ‘‘Em relação ao arsênio, nós estamos con-
trolados’’ [‘‘As far as arsenic is related, we are controlled’’]
2014a. <http://alertaparacatu.blogspot.com/2014/05/em-relacao-
ao-arsenio-nos-estamos.html>. (Last accessed February 3, 2017).
47
SU Dani and MJ Santos. ‘‘Réplica à contestação da Kinross
ré, apresentada pela Fundação autora’’. [‘‘Response to Kinross,
presented at the Civil Action 0618120-41.2009.8.13.0470
(Acangau Foundation vs. Kinross and The Paracatu Municipal
Administration)’’]. Court of Paracatu, MG, Brazil; 2014.
48
HR Mesquita [Federal Public Attorney]. Personal Commu-
nication and Declaration to S.U. Dani on the Proceedings and
Results Reported by the CETEM Team Including Representatives
of the Evandro Chagas Institute and UNICAMP, During a Meeting
Held at the Paracatu Mayor’s Office on March 22, 2016. <http://
alertaparacatu.blogspot.ch/2016/07/carta-aberta-populacao-de-
paracatu-28.html>. (Last accessed February 3, 2017).
 GEOCIDE, ECOCIDE, AND GENOCIDAL TYPE OUTCOMES IN PARACATU, BRAZIL
concentration, 15 mg As/L, was four to seven times higher
than that originally reported by the same CETEM team.
By that time, Kinross hired a nonmedical research
team led by chemist Virginia Ciminelli of the Federal
University of Minas Gerais (UFMG) and director of the
INCT-Acqua organization who claimed no risk of in-
toxication of the population of Paracatu by iAs.49 Mea-
surements of iAs in the air from Paracatu conducted on
behalf of Kinross by the Ciminelli group between the
years 2010 and 2012 resulted in an average concentration
of iAs of 38.12 ng/m3, a value that was then corrected by
them to 1.3 ng As/m3 by multiplying the mean value of
arsenic in air by the BAC (BAC refers to the fraction of a
compound that is soluble in the gastrointestinal tract and,
therefore, available for absorption) as obtained in gas-
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trointestinal trials.50,51 This misleading correction placed
the arsenic value at the lower end of what was reported for
total arsenic by the World Health Organization (WHO)
for air in rural and remote areas, 0.02–4 ng As/m3.52
The maximum concentration of iAs in the wind-borne
dust of the Paracatu mine, collected in different parts of
the city, was 2980 mg/kg, as reported for 2008 by in-
dependent teams,53,54 compared with 313 mg/kg as re-
ported in 2016 by a team funded by Kinross.55
In claiming that there is no arsenic contamination at
levels not tolerable by humans due to open pit gold mining
in Paracatu, Kinross and some of its hired scientists and
technicians, including some technicians and officials of the
49
VST Ciminelli. Research Clarification Letter to the Public
Authorities of Paracatu. Belo Horizonte; March 20, 2015. <http://
fb.kinross.com/media/304739/research%20clarification%20letter
%20-%20ciminelli.pdf>. (Last accessed February 3, 2017).
50
J Ng, M Gasparon, GC Silva, and VST Ciminelli. Health As-
sessment Associated to Arsenic Occurrence at the Morro do Ouro
Mine—Kinross. Report Presented by Kinross Gold Corporation in
the Private Lawsuit No. PEN 16274 Filed by Kinross against S.U.
Dani in the Canton of Berne, Switzerland. Page 134; 2012.
51
J Ng, M Gasparon, GC Silva, and VST Ciminelli. ‘‘Health
Risk Assessment of Arsenic near a Gold Mine in Brazil.’’ In 5th
International Congress on Arsenic in the Environment—As 2014.
One Century of the Discovery of Arsenicosis in Latin America
(1914–2014). (London: Taylor & Francis Group, 2014), 607–609.
52
World Health Organization (WHO). United Nations
Synthesis Report on Arsenic in Drinking-Water. Geneva, World
Health Organization. 2001. <www.bvsde.ops-oms.org/bvsacd/
who/arsin.pdf>. (Last accessed February 3, 2017).
53
PS Rezende. Results of Analyses of Inorganic Arsenic
Content in Dust Samples Collected in 2008 in Paracatu. Personal
Communication to S.U. Dani. 2008.
54
J Matschullat and A Plessow. Results of Duplicate Analyses
of Inorganic Arsenic Content in Dust Samples Collected by P.
Rezende, in 2008, in Paracatu. Personal communication to S.U.
Dani. 2010.
55
FB Ono, R Tappero, D Sparks, and LR Guilherme. ‘‘In-
vestigation of Arsenic Species in Tailings and Windblown Dust
from a Gold Mining Area.’’ Environmental Science and Pollu-
tion Research 23 (2016): 638–647.
56
Brazil. MME-Ministério das Minas e Energia. F Bedran,
MJA Correia, LMG Ferreira, MJG Salum. ‘‘Nota técnica 52/
2018/DDSM/SGM, Processo no. 48300.001038/2018-89, Ofı́cio
164/2018/SGM-MME’’. [‘‘Brazil. MME-Ministry of Mines and
Energy. F Bedran, MJA Correia, LMG Ferreira, MJG Salum.
Technical Note 52/2018 / DDSM / SGM, Case no. 48300.001038 /
2018-89, Letter 164/2018 / SGM-MME’’]. 2018.
7
Brazilian government,56 purposely neglect scientific reports
published in academic theses, congresses, and journals of
international circulation with editorial boards that clearly
demonstrate the opposite of these allegations. Kinross
seeks support on surveys that are full of gross methodo-
logical errors and are conducted by researchers without
any medical qualifications in clear conflict of interest since
they have been funded by the mining company.
The gross errors of other surveys commissioned by
Kinross were also denounced by independent scientists.
Steven H. Emerman57 comments on a memorandum to the
Center for Business Resources and Human Rights, in
which Kinross repeated his earlier statement: ‘‘Two in-
dependent, detailed and separate clinical studies clearly
show that the arsenic of our operations is not a public
health concern for the people of Paracatu and that the
concentrations of arsenic in food, water and dust in Para-
catu are normal.’’58 No response from Kinross acknowl-
edged the existence of a series of studies showing the
contrary, although they were brought to its attention by the
Acangau civil action59,60 and the Above Ground and Jus-
tiça Global report.61
Several studies invariably point to a large-scale neg-
ative impact of gold mining activities in Paracatu on the
environment, public health, and the economy. iAs and its
compounds released into the environment from Kinross
activities in and around Paracatu are potent and persistent
environmental poisons with genotoxic, mutagenic, tera-
togenic, and carcinogenic effects.62,63,64 Chronic
57
SH Emerman. Evaluation of Three Studies of Environ-
mental Arsenic near the Morro do Ouro Mine Operated by
Kinross Gold, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Submitted to Above Ground
on July 13, 2018.
58
Kinross Gold Corporation (KGC). 2018. Memorandum to
Business and Human Rights Resource Center, dated April 9,
2018, 2. <www.business-humanrights.org/sites/default/files/
documents/Kinross%20response%20to%20BHRRC%20Feb%
202%202018.pdf>. (Last accessed August 10, 2018).
59
Acangau Foundation. 2009. Acangau Foundation vs. RPM/
Kinross Brasil Mineração SA and The Paracatu Municipal Ad-
ministration. Civil Action No. 0618120-41.2009.8.13.0470. Court
of Paracatu, MG, Brazil; September 9, 2009. <www.serrano
.neves.nom.br/1xACPPTU.pdf>. (Last accessed February 3,
2017).
60
SU Dani and MJ Santos. ‘‘Réplica à contestação da Kinross
ré, apresentada pela Fundação autora’’. [‘‘Response to Kinross,
presented at the Civil Action 0618120-41.2009.8.13.0470
(Acangau Foundation vs. Kinross and The Paracatu Municipal
Administration)’’]. Court of Paracatu, MG, Brazil; 2014.
61
Above Ground and Justiça Global. Swept Aside: An In-
vestigation into Human Rights Abuse at Kinross Gold’s Morro
do Ouro Mine. 2017. <http://aboveground.ngo/wp-content/uploads/
2017/12/Swept-Aside-Kinross-Morro-do-Ouro-report.pdf>. (Last
accessed December 11, 2017).
62
R Eisler. ‘‘A Review of Arsenic Hazards to Plants and
Animals with Emphasis on Fishery and Wildlife Resources.’’ In.
J.O. Nriagu, ed. Arsenic in the Environment, Part II: Human
Health and Ecosystem Effects. ( John Willey and Sons, New
York, NY, 1994), 185–259.
63
R Eisler. ‘‘Arsenic Hazards to Humans, Plants, and Animals
from Gold Mining.’’ Reviews of Environmental Contamination
and Toxicology 180 (2004): 133–165.
64
S Tapio and B Grosche. ‘‘Arsenic in the Aetiology of
Cancer.’’ Mutation Research 612 (2006): 215–246.
 8 DANI ET AL.
exposure to arsenic has been associated mainly with the
increased risk of various types of cancer, but also cuta-
neous, respiratory, hematological, cardiovascular, gas-
trointestinal, hepatic, metabolic, renal, neurological, and
immunological diseases.65 Associations between uAs
above certain thresholds and increased morbidity and
mortality have been described for various diseases. In a
study, the threshold for diabetes was 12 mg/g creatinine,66
whereas the threshold for cardiovascular disease was
reported at 7 mg/g creatinine.67 For several types of
cancer, including lung, prostate, and pancreatic cancers,
the associations between uAs and morbidity and mor-
tality have been described as dose dependent, without
threshold.68 The conclusion that can be drawn from these
studies is that there is no safe concentration for a carcin-
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ogen such as arsenic. Sustained cancer risk, long periods
of latency, and neuropathies are hallmarks of chronic in-
toxication by iAs. Exposure through the osteoresorptive
pathway can sustain a former environmental arsenic ex-
posure for decades after the environmental arsenic emis-
sion has subsided or even ceased.69
The total amount of iAs released from the rocks at the
Paracatu mine was estimated 735,000 ton in December
2016, according to reports from the mining company
Kinross itself.70 This amount is probably the largest mass
of iAs reported for a single mining operation within an
urban environment.71 For comparison purposes only, the
human LD50 (lethal dose 50%) for arsenate is 1 mg/kg
(i.e., 1 mg/g or 1 part per million, 1 ppm),72,73 meaning
that 735,000 ton of iAs would represent a lethal dose for
65
S Kapaj, H Peterson, K Liber, and P Bhattacharya. ‘‘Human
Health Effects from Chronic Arsenic Poisoning—A Review.’’
Journal of Environmental Science and Health. Part A, Toxix/
Hazardous Substances and Environmental Engineering 41
(2006): 2399–2428.
66
SK Feseke SK, J St-Laurent, E Anassour-Sidi, P Ayotte, M
Bouchard, and P Levallois. ‘‘Arsenic Exposure and Type 2
Diabetes: Results from the 2007–2009 Canadian Health Mea-
sures Survey.’’ Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Pre-
vention in Canada 35 (2015): 63–72.
67
KA Moon, E Guallar, JG Umans, RB Devereux, LG Best,
KA Francesconi, W Goessler, J Pollak, EK Silbergeld, BV
Howard, and A Navas-Acien. ‘‘Association Between Exposure
to Low to Moderate Arsenic Levels and Incident Cardiovascular
Disease. A Prospective Cohort Study.’’ Annals of Internal
Medicine 159 (2013): 649–659.
68
E Garcı́a-Esquinas, M Pollán, JG Umans, KA Francesconi,
W Goessler, E Guallar, B Howard, J Farley, LG Best, and A
Navas-Acien. ‘‘Arsenic Exposure and Cancer Mortality in a US-
Based Prospective Cohort: The Strong Heart Study.’’ Cancer
Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention 22 (2013): 1944–1953.
69
SU Dani. ‘‘Osteoresorptive Arsenic Intoxication.’’ Bone 53
(2013): 541–545.
70
RD Henderson. Paracatu Mine Technical Report. Kinross
Gold Corporation; July 31, 2006. <www.kinross.com/
operations/pdf/Technical-Report-Paracatu.pdf>. (Last accessed
February 3, 2017), and Kinross Gold Corporation Annual Re-
ports Cited Here.
71
SU Dani. ‘‘Gold, Coal and Oil.’’ Medical Hypotheses 74
(2006): 534–541.
72
JM Arena and RH Drew (eds). Poisoning. 5th ed. (Charles
C Thomas, Springfield, 1986).
73
RC Dart. Medical Toxicology. (Williams & Wilkins, Phi-
ladelphia, PA, 2004), 1393–1401.
up to 5,250,000,000,000 (>5 trillion) people of 70 kg BW
each, an astonishing lethal potential, even if only a small
fraction of bioavailable arsenic is considered. There is
thus enough reason to believe that even a minimal frac-
tion of this enormous amount of iAs gives rise to a se-
rious chronic exposure risk.
Arsenic exposure is the sum of exposure through
known routes, including inhalation, ingestion, and dermal
contact. The mine operator performed TSP (PM10)
monitoring in Paracatu using high-volume appliances
installed in different parts of the city. However, we are
not aware of any environmental monitoring performed by
the mine operator who takes into account the total dust
volume, rather than simply TSP sampling, or any moni-
toring of iAs in the most dangerous ultrafine, nano-
particle, and gaseous forms. Several studies have
reported that particulate matter is, as a rule, high in
mining communities compared with other nonmining
communities, and that it is elevated mainly in the ultra-
fine range. According to Michael Hendryx, a researcher
at Indiana University, ‘‘the smaller the particles, the more
dangerous they are, because with small particles, almost
all of them are surface. So, whatever the material, it will
come in contact with the biological tissue. Moreover,
because they are very small, these particles can penetrate
deeply into the lung tissue and can even pass through the
lungs and enter the vascular system and then literally
enter into any part of the body.’’74
We are unaware of any bioavailability assay of iAs in
the respiratory tract reported for Paracatu. A 4% bio-
availability of noncommercial ore in the gastrointestinal
tract was postulated by a research team financially sup-
ported by Kinross.75 Interestingly, in this same report, the
authors found 67% of iAs gastrointestinal bioavailability
for the commercial ore of the Paracatu mine deposited in
the tailings dams but preferred to use the 4% result ob-
tained with the noncommercial ore in their risk estimates.76
However, these results cannot be applied to the respiratory
tract, since the half-life of arsenic compounds in the lungs
is considerably higher than in the gastrointestinal tract.77
Certain arsenic compounds may remain in the lungs for
74
R Schiffman. A Troubling Look at the Human Toll of
Mountaintop Removal Mining. Yale Environment 360. Pub-
lished at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies;
2017. <http://e360.yale.edu/features/a-troubling-look-at-the-
human-toll-of-mountaintop-removal-mining>. (Last accessed
December 31, 2017).
75
FB Ono, LR Guilherme, ES Penido, GS Carvalho, B Hale,
R Toujaguez, and J Bundschuh. ‘‘Arsenic Bioaccessibility in a
Gold Mining Area: A Health Risk Assessment for Children.’’
Environmental Geochemistry and Health 34 (2011): 457–465.
76
SU Dani. ‘‘Arsênio liberado pela Kinross em Paracatu já está
bioacessı́vel, revela estudo’’. [‘‘Arsenic released by Kinross in
Paracatu is already bioaccessible, study reveals’’ (Comments on
Ono FB, et al. 2011. Environ Geochem Health 34 (2012): 457–
465]. <http://alertaparacatu.blogspot.de/2012/05/arsenio-liberado-
pela-kinross-em.html>. (Last accessed February 3, 2017).
77
K Rhoads and CL Sanders. ‘‘Lung Clearance, Transloca-
tion, and Acute Toxicity of Arsenic, Beryllium, Cadmium,
Cobalt, Lead, Selenium, Vanadium, and Ytterbium Oxides
Following Deposition in Rat Lung.’’ Environmental Research
36 (1985): 359–378.
 GEOCIDE, ECOCIDE, AND GENOCIDAL TYPE OUTCOMES IN PARACATU, BRAZIL
several years, even after exposure to environmental iAs has
ceased.78 Although particles deposited in the upper airways
and swallowed after mucociliary clearance result in ab-
sorption of the gastrointestinal tract, smaller particles are
deposited more deeply into the respiratory tract, and the
absorbed fraction of inhaled arsenic is believed to be be-
tween 60% and 90%,79,80 therefore, in significantly higher
proportions than those found in the gastrointestinal assays.
In addition, neither gastrointestinal nor dermal bioavail-
ability assays81 reflect the bioavailability of the highly bio-
available nanoparticles82 or gaseous forms, such as arsines
that are primarily or secondarily absorbed by inhalation.83
It is concluded that the TSP monitoring results (PM10)
reported by Kinross or on its behalf and Kinross’s repeated
statements that arsenic is present in Paracatu at ‘‘normal’’
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levels that ‘‘pose no risk to the population’’ are misleading and
false because they consider neither the highly bioavailable
ultrafine or nanoparticles, nor the volatile (gaseous) forms.
In 2015, extended environmental analyses by Rezende
et al.84 showed that the iAs released by Kinross’s gold
mining activities in Paracatu had already entered the food
chain. In several places, the concentration of iAs was well
above the quality standards adopted by national and inter-
national organizations. The total concentration of iAs in the
sampled surface waters ranged from 0.35 to 110 mg/L, that is,
up to 11 times the reference value of 10 mg/L. In the riverine
sediments, the total concentration of iAs ranged from 738 to
2750 mg/kg, that is, 125–466 times greater than the refer-
ence values adopted by the Brazilian legislation. Also, the
concentration of iAs in the sediments was inversely related
to the distance from the Kinross mining facility. The con-
centration of iAs in water and sediments correlated with that
of samples of different plant species that are consumed as
food in Paracatu. According to the authors, the mining ac-
tivities are the most important source of environmental
iAs. They report that acid leachate from the gold mine and
tailings dams increases the solubility and dispersion of
78
D Brune, G Nordberg, and PO Wester. ‘‘Distribution of 23
Elements in the Kidney, Liver and Lungs of Workers from a
Smeltery and Refinery in North Sweden Exposed to a Number of
Elements and of a Control Group.’’ Science of the Total En-
vironment 16 (1980): 13–35.
79
L Yip and R Dart. ‘‘Arsenic.’’ In J Sullivan and G Kreiger (eds.)
Clinical Environmental Health and Toxic Exposures, 2nd ed. (Phi-
ladelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2001), 858–865.
80
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).
Arsine. NIOSH Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards. 2005. <www.cdc
.gov/niosh/npg/npgd0040.html>. (Last accessed October 11, 2007).
81
K Kato, K Yamanaka, Y Shimoda, Y Yamano, K Nagano, A
Hata, Y Endo, M Tachikawa, and G Endo. ‘‘Arsine Toxicity Is
Induced by Inhalation but Not by Percutaneous Exposure in Hairless
Mice.’’ Journal of Toxicological Sciences 39 (2014): 301–310.
82
Y Tian, X Wang, R Xi, W Pan, S Jiang, Z Li, Y Zhao, G
Gao, and D Liu. ‘‘Enhanced Antitumor Activity of Realgar
Mediated by Milling it to Nanosize.’’ International Journal of
Nanomedicine 9 (2014): 745–757.
83
H Kinoshita, Y Hirose, T Tanaka, and Y Yamazaki. ‘‘Oral
Arsenic Trioxide Poisoning and Secondary Hazard from Gastric
Content.’’ Annals of Emergency Medicine 44 (2004): 625–627.
84
PS Rezende, LM Costa, and CC Windmöller. ‘‘Arsenic Mobility
in Sediments from Paracatu River Basin, MG, Brazil.’’ Archives of
Environmental Contamination and Toxicology 68 (2015): 588–602.
9
arsenic in the region’s watercourses and that dust is the
main transport agent for iAs emissions into the atmo-
sphere. The arsenic-laced dust particles that are scattered
by the wind precipitate onto soils and end up in the water.
Between 2004 and 2006, thus almost two decades after
the start of mining activities in Paracatu, Ferreira et al.
discovered skin lesions in 43.6% of 7450 children tested
for leprosy in Paracatu.85,86 The authors diagnosed leprosy
in 68 children, but most skin lesions, such as dyschromia
and other dermatoses, could not be attributed to leprosy,
leaving room for the differential diagnosis of CAsI with
cutaneous manifestations in this susceptible population
subgroup. However, the authors did not consider this
differential diagnosis in their original publication.
As early as 2005, Enrı́quez pointed out in her doctoral
thesis that the percentage of hospitalizations due to different
types of cancer was increased in mining communities in-
cluding Paracatu in comparison with control communities.87
Since there are no public or private oncology clinics in
Paracatu, many patients are seeking cancer care in at least
eight different hospitals outside the county, causing a sys-
tematic failure to detect cancer in Paracatu. One of the pa-
tients’ preferred oncology service is a philanthropic hospital,
the Barretos Cancer Hospital/Pio XII Foundation, a well-
known cancer reference center located in Barretos, State of
São Paulo, *520 km south from Paracatu. Since 2007,
when the first patient with cancer from Paracatu was hos-
pitalized for treatment in Barretos, the number of
cases of cancer from Paracatu treated in this center increased
exponentially.88 These findings are in line with govern-
mental epidemiological data indicating that spontaneous
abortion and cancer rates increased in Paracatu com-
pared with neighboring communities.89,90 This increase was
85
IN Ferreira, MSN Evangelista, and RRA Alvarez. ‘‘Spatial
Distribution of Leprosy Among Schoolchildren in Paracatu,
State of Minas Gerais, Through Active Case Finding (2004 to
2006).’’ Revista Brasileira de Epidemiologia 10 (2007): 555–567.
86
IN Ferreira. ‘‘Busca ativa de hansenı́ase na população escolar e
distribuição espacial da endemia no municı́pio de Paracatu—MG
(2004 a 2006)’’ [‘‘Active search for leprosy in school population
and spatial distribution of this endemic disease in the municipality
of Paracatu-MG (2004 to 2006)’’]. (Doctoral diss., Universidade de
Brası́lia—UnB, Faculdade de Ciências da Saúde, 2008).
87
MARS Enrı́quez. ‘‘Maldição ou dádiva? Os dilemas do
desenvolvimento sustentável a partir de uma base mineira.’’
[‘‘Curse or gift? The dilemmas of sustainable development from
a mining base’’]. Doctoral diss., Centro de Desenvolvimento
Sustentável da Universidade de Brası́lia, DF, Brazil, 2007, 449.
88
A Mafra, G Measso, and B Petrov B. Personal Commu-
nication. (Barretos Cancer Hospital/Pio XII Foundation, Barre-
tos SP, Brazil, 2016).
89
SU Dani. ‘‘Cresce o número de abortos espontâneos em Paracatu:
mineradora transnacional Kinross é apontada como culpada em ação
judicial’’ [‘‘The number of miscarriages has grown in Paracatu:
transnational mining corporation Kinross is charged as guilty in a
lawsuit’’]. 2011a. <http://alertaparacatu.blogspot.ch/2011/01/abortos-
espontaneos-em-paracatu.html>. (Last accessed February 3, 2017).
90
SU Dani. ‘‘Cresce o número de casos de câncer em Paracatu:
indı́cios e população apontam transnacional canadense Kinross como
culpada’’. [‘‘Growing number of cancer cases in Paracatu: clues and
population implicate Canadian transnational Kinross as guilty’’].
2011b. <http://alertaparacatu.blogspot.ch/2011/01/cresce-o-numero-
de-casos-de-cancer-em.html>. (Last accessed February 3, 2017).
 10
observed in Paracatu after a typical latency period of
decades between the onset of chronic exposure to iAs and
the manifestation of iAs-induced diseases, similar to
what happened in other parts of the world where envi-
ronmental contamination by anthropogenic arsenic was
verified.91,92,93,94,95,96,97,98
In 2016, a survey of uAs of children and adults living
in the Santa Rita Valley, downstream of the Kinross
tailings dams in Paracatu, revealed abnormally high
concentrations of uAs.99 uAs concentrations ranged
from 4 mg/g creatinine to 32.5 mg/g creatinine, with
70.3% of patients presenting uAs concentrations above
the WHO reference value of 10 mg/g creatinine. In the
same study, a geochemical survey of ground and surface
water used by these individuals revealed concentrations
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of arsenic ranging from 12 to 16 and 15 to 26 mg/L,
respectively, whereas the arsenic concentrations in
those waters before mine operations in 1987 were
<2 mg/L, according to the EIA-RIMA of the former
91
JW Grobe. ‘‘Peripheral Circulatory Disorders and Ac-
rocyanosis in Moselle Vine Dressers Exposed to Arsenic
[Periphere durchblutungsstorungen und Akrocyanose bei
Arsenschaedigten Moselwinzern].’’ Berufsdermatosen 24
(1976): 78–84.
92
JW Grobe. ‘‘Expert’s Opinions and Therapeutic Findings in
Vine Dressers with Late Lesions Due to Arsenic Intoxication
[Gutartliche und therapeutische Befunde und Beobachtungen bei
Moselwinzer mit Arsenintoxikationsspaetfolgeschaedigung].’’
Berufsdermatosen 25 (1977): 124–130.
93
JW Grobe. ‘‘Opinion Observations on Arsenic Intoxication
Late Sequence Damage with Porphyria Cutanea Tarda and
Dupuytren’s Contracture [Gutachtliche Beobachtungen bei Ar-
senintoxikationsspaetfolgeschaden mit Porphyria cutanea tarda
und Dupuytren’scher Kontraktur].’’ Dermatosen in Beruf und
Umwelt 28 (1980): 116–117.
94
JW Grobe. ‘‘Dupuytren’s Contracture in Moselle Wine-
Dressers with Late After-Effects from Arsenic [Dupuytrensche
Kontrakturen bei Moselwinzern mit Arsenspaetfolgeschaedi-
gung].’’ Dermatosen in Beruf und Umwelt 30 (1982): 196–
198.
95
N Hotta, M Harada, R Hattori, et al. (1979). A Clinical
Study on Toroku Disease—Chronic Arsenic Poisoning Due to
Environmental Pollution [in Japanese]. Bulletin of the Institute
of Constitutional Medicine, Kumamoto University, 3, 199–
235.
96
S Kawasaki, S Yazawa, A Ohnishi, and T Ohi. Chronic and
Predom-Inantly Sensory Polyneuropathy in Toroku Valley
Where a Mining Company Produced Arsenic.’’ Rinsho Shin-
keigaku 42 (2002): 504–511.
97
I Nakamura, T Arao, S Inoue, T Ono, Y Ishii, T Sato, and
Y Maekawa. ‘‘Chronic Arsenical Toxicosis in Toroku District
Miyazaki Prefecture (Report I).’’ Journal of the Kumamoto
Medical Society 47 (1973a): 486–515.
98
I Nakamura, T Arao, S Inoue, T Ono, Y Ishii, T Sato, and
Y Maekawa. ‘‘Chronic Arsenical Toxicosis in Toroku District
Miyazaki Prefecture (Report II).’’ Journal of the Kumamoto
Medical Society 47 (1973b): 516–513.
99
MJ Santos and SU Dani SU. Arsenic Contamination of the
Environment and the Human Compartment by Gold Mining in
Paracatu, MG, Brazil [Contaminação ambiental e do comparti-
mento humano pelo arsênio liberado pela mineração de ouro em
Paracatu, MG, Brasil]. Congresso da Sociedade de Análise de
Risco Latino Americana SRA-LA. SRA-LA/ABGE, IPT, São
Paulo, Brazil, May 10–13, 2016.
DANI ET AL.
operator of the Paracatu mine.100 The tailings were
identified as the cause of persistent and progressive
contamination of the environment and human com-
partment by iAs in the Santa Rita river basin because
the rocks in this area were originally virtually free of
arsenic. The aloctonus and anthropogenic dispersion of
arsenic can be explained by the flow of contaminated
water from the tailings that seep through the drains of
the dams and the subsoil. This survey also showed a uAs
concentration gradient between urine samples that was
inversely related to the distance between the patients’
residence location and the gold mining facilities.
Although the chronic arsenic intoxication of people
living in the city of Paracatu and its surroundings was
long known or suspected, it was only in August 2017 that
it became more visible to the international community
through the publication of a new method called CA-
sIDS.101 In this publication, chronic arsenic poisoning is
diagnosed with a high degree of certainty in a patient
from Paracatu who had been chronically exposed to iAs
from Kinross mining activities.
During medical consultations carried out in Paracatu
between November 2015 and February 2017, we had the
opportunity to examine several patients with typical signs
and symptoms of chronic arsenic poisoning. To over-
come the uncertainties of iAs toxicity risk assessment
due to the high arsenic clearance rates of most body
compartments except bone, we based our risk assessment
on estimates of inorganic bone content of arsenic in our
patients. Because bones are the most important iAs
compartment in the body, an increase in osteoresorption
rates may temporarily disrupt the stable balance of iAs in
the body, leading to chronic arsenic exposure and os-
teoresorptive arsenic intoxication (ORAI). Thus, we in-
troduced the ORAI as a criterion for inorganic chronic
exposure risk assessment in Paracatu. The estimated iAs
load/skeletal weight (BAsL/SW) results obtained with this
model are comparable with the BAsL/SW of the first ORAI
case report.102 The BAsL indices were related to the se-
verity of clinical manifestations of CAsI in Paracatu. Ta-
ble 1 shows the characteristics of our patients with
complete clinical and laboratory test records, including
their body arsenic load estimates. In all but one young
patient, the concentration of arsenic in the bone com-
partment estimated by the BAsL/SW quotient was more
than the LD50 reported for arsenate, 1 mg/kg. There was a
clear increase in BAsL with age, distance from the pa-
tient’s home to the gold mine, and occupational exposure.
100
Acangau Foundation. Estimates of Inorganic Arsenic
Concentrations Based on Results of Some Environmental Re-
ports (‘‘EIA/RIMA’’) Provided by KGC/Kinross Brasil S.A. in
the Civil Action No. 0618120-41.2009.8.13.0470 filed by the
Acangau Foundation against KGC and the Paracatu Municipal
Administration. 2010.
101
SU Dani and GF Walter. ‘‘Chronic Arsenic Intoxication
Diagnostic Score (CAsIDS).’’ Journal of Applied Toxicology 38
(2018): 122–144.
102
SU Dani. ‘‘Osteoresorptive Arsenic Intoxication.’’ Bone 53
(2013): 541–545.
 GEOCIDE, ECOCIDE, AND GENOCIDAL TYPE OUTCOMES IN PARACATU, BRAZIL 11

Table 1. Characteristics of Paracatu Patients Examined Between 2015

and 2017 Including Estimates of Bone Arsenic Load
Age BW BH BMI eSW eBP DuP DuAs eAs:P BAsL BAsL/eSW
Gender (years) (kg) (m) (kg/m2) (g) (g) (mg/g) (mg/g) (mg/mg) (mg) (mg/g)
M 63 80 1.76 26 5600 728 0.010 12.235 1.200 874 156.1
M 55 97 1.80 30 6305 816 32.5a 25a 0.769 628 99.6
F 49 89 1.72 30 5156 668 0.125 0.010 0.083 55.5 10.8
M 34 84 1.80 26 5037 731 0.199 0.005 0.025 18.3 3.3
F 28 94 1.67 34 4861 630 0.183 0.002 0.011 6.7 1.4
F 20 74 1.75 24 5180 673 0.280 0.003 0.011 7.1 1.4
F 14 90 1.67 32 4861 630 0.757 0.004 0.005 3.1 0.6
Median 34 89 1.75 30 5156 673 0.191 0.0045 0.025 18.3 3.3
Elemental analyses were performed by AAS, ICP-SFMS (EN ISO 17294-1,2 and EPA method 200.8) or ICP-MS.
DuAs, difference in arsenic concentration between two consecutive urine samples (morning and evening urine); DuP, difference in
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phosphorus concentration between two consecutive urine samples (morning and evening urine); AAS, atomic absorption
spectrometry; BAsL, estimated bone arsenic load, that is, total arsenic in skeleton; BAsL/eSW, estimated arsenic concentration in the
bone compartment; BH, body height; BMI, body mass index; BW, body weight; eAs:P, estimated As:P ratio in the bone
compartment; eBP, estimated bone phosphorus content (mineral matrix composed of 70% hydroxyapatite with 18.5% phosphorus);
EPA, Environmental Protection Agency; eSW, estimated skeletal weight (6%–7% of adult BW [Heymsfield et al. 2005]); ICP-MS,
inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry; ICP-SFMS, inductively coupled plasma-sector field mass spectrometry.
a
Median of the results of analyses performed by different methods: AAS, ICP-MS, bioluminescence, and MerckoQuant.

Table 2 shows data from different control populations
worldwide for comparison purposes.103,104,105 The con-
centration of arsenic in the human compartment in
Paracatu (Table 1) is increased by an average of 22 times,
and in some patients up to 1000 times, compared with
control populations in other parts of the world.
In 2009, Paracatu was included in the official map of
conflicts involving environmental injustice and health.106
This map was elaborated by the Oswaldo Cruz Founda-
tion (Fiocruz) and the Socio-Educational Assistance
Foundation (FASE) with support from the Brazilian
Ministry of Health. Paracatu has been included in this
map in recognition of the serious consequences of open
pit gold mining activities within the urban environment
including severe and persistent environmental pollution,
chronic exposure to arsenic and other toxic substances,
destruction of drinking water sources, and eviction of
traditional communities, among other injustices.
103
YC Yoo, SK Lee, JY Yang, SW In, KW Kim, KH Chung,
MG Chung, and SY Choung. ‘‘Organ Distribution of Heavy
Metals in Autopsy Material from Normal Korean.’’ Journal of
Health Science 48 (2002): 186–194.
104
B Brodziak–Dopierała, J Kwapulinski, and J Kowol. ‘‘Oc-
currence of Arsenic in Selected Parts of the Human Femur Head.’’
Polish Journal of Environmental Studies 20 (2011): 1633–1636.
105
M Mari, M Nadal, M Schuhmacher, E Barberı́a, F Garcı́a, and
JL Domingo. ‘‘Human Exposure to Metals: Levels in Autopsy
Tissues of Individuals Living near a Hazardous Waste Incinerator.’’
Biological Trace Elements Research 159 (2014): 15–21.
106
Brazil. Ministério da Saúde—Departamento de Saúde Am-
biental e Saúde do Trabalhador/Fiocruz-Fundação Oswaldo Cruz /
FASE-Fundação de Atendimento Sócio-Educativo. ‘‘Mapa de
Conflitos Envolvendo Injustiça Ambiental e Saúde no Brasil’’
[Brazil. Ministry of Health-Department of Environmental Health
and Worker’s Health / Fiocruz-Oswaldo Cruz Foundation / FASE-
Socio-Educational Assistance Foundation. ‘‘Map of Conflicts In-
volving Environmental Injustice and Health in Brazil’’]. 2009.
<www.conflitoambiental.icict.fiocruz.br/index.php?pag=ficha&
cod=219>. (Last accessed April 17, 2017).
In December 2017, a report simultaneously released in
Brazil and Canada by the Brazilian nongovernmental
organization Justiça Global and Canadian Above Ground
documented the human rights abuse linked to the Para-
catu gold mine operated by the wholly owned subsidiary
of Canadian miner Kinross Gold Corporation.107
GEOCIDE AND ECOCIDE
WITH GENOCIDAL TYPE OUTCOMES
The geological damage or geocide108 caused by Kin-
ross Gold Corporation on the outskirts of Paracatu led to
massive degradation of soil and water resources, pro-
gressive environmental contamination, and CAsI of
ecocidal stature. As pointed out by Elihu D. Richter
et al.,109 such ecotoxic risks become Malthusian pres-
sures by destroying carrying capacity and sustainability,
and thereby reducing resource/population ratios. These
pressures have genocidal effects by creating a concen-
tration camp represented by the state of exception.110
107
Above Ground and Justiça Global. Swept Aside: An In-
vestigation into Human Rights Abuse at Kinross Gold’s Morro
do Ouro Mine. 2017. <http://aboveground.ngo/wp-content/
uploads/2017/12/Swept-Aside-Kinross-Morro-do-Ouro-report
.pdf>. (Last accessed December 11, 2017).
108
L Berat. ‘‘Defending the Right to a Healthy Environment:
Toward a Crime of Geocide in International Law.’’ Boston
University International Law Journal 11 (1993): 343.
109
ED Richter, R Blum, T Berman, and GH Stanton. ‘‘Malthu-
sian Pressures, Genocide, and Ecocide.’’ International Journal of
Occupational and Environmental Health 13 (2007): 331–341.
110
RG Valério. O campo de concentração como modelo do
espaço polı́tico contemporâneo: considerações a partir do pensa-
mento de Giorgio Agamben [The Concentration Camp as Model of
Contemporary Political Space: Considerations from the Thought of
Giorgio Agamben]. !ntegrada, Revista Cientı́fica FACOL/ISEOL
(Int. Rev. Cie. FACOL/ISEOL) ISSN 2359-0645, V2 (4): 42–53,
2015. <www.facol.br/integrada/ed004_2015/v2_n4_2015_12-
art03_VALERIO.pdf>. (Last accessed August 26, 2017).
 12
Table 2. Bone Arsenic Load (BasL/SW) in Different Control Populations
Country Period N of material
Korea 1997–2000 150
Poland Before 2011 92
Spain 1998 5 Surgery
Spain 2007 5 Surgery
Total 252
BAsL (bone arsenic load), total arsenic load in the bone compartment; BAsL/SW, arsenic concentration in the bone compartment,
measured by ICP-MS.
One of the serious aspects of the geocide and ecocide
perpetrated by large-scale gold mining in Paracatu re-
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sides in that the Precautionary Principle in relation to the
suspected iAs chronic intoxication has been repeatedly
disregarded, since the beginning of the mining operations
in 1987, and even more since 2004. This disregard is in
disagreement with the Brazilian Federal Constitution and
with the rules and guidelines established by the Brazilian
sanitary authorities that list the environmental pollutants
among the main causes of morbidity.111 The Brazilian
Federal Constitution was drafted in 1987 and promul-
gated in 1988, at the same time that the gold mine of
Paracatu was beginning operation. The Brazilian Federal
Constitution guarantees the right to an ecologically bal-
anced environment for present and future generations, as a
fundamental human right, since it is the basis of life and
health.112 Thus nothing justifies the omission and neglect of
such a fundamental guarantee for the inviolability of life.
Another serious aspect is the greenwashing of the
geological and ecological damages by Kinross and its con-
sultants, especially some consultants who engage in ‘‘toxi-
cological greenwashing.’’ As noted by Richter et al.,113
‘‘such consultants sometimes profess a false ignorance
concerning the presence of exposures producing these ef-
fects, or equate absence of evidence with evidence of ab-
sence, or manufacture doubt concerning the validity of the
scientific evidence for the effects of these exposures.’’114,115
One of the most prestigious research groups on an-
thropogenic environmental pollution causing intoxication
of population is the group of Elihu D. Richter at the
Hebrew University Hadassah School of Community
Medicine and Public Health, Injury Prevention Center in
111
Brazil. ‘‘Subsı́dios para Construção da Polı́tica Nacional de
Saúde Ambiental / Ministério da Saúde, Conselho Nacional de
Saúde’’. [‘‘Subsidies for Construction of the National Environ-
mental Health Policy / Ministry of Health, National Health Coun-
cil’’]. Brası́lia, DF: Editora do Ministério da Saúde, 2007. 56 p.: il.
(Série B. Textos Básicos de Saúde). ISBN 978-85-334-1328-3.
112
E Partridge. Responsibilities to Future Generations: En-
vironmental Ethics. (Prometheus Books, Buffalo, NY, 1981).
113
ED Richter, R Blum, T Berman, and GH Stanton. ‘‘Mal-
thusian Pressures, genocide, and Ecocide.’’ International Journal
of Occupational and Environmental Health 13(2007): 331–341.
114
G Markowitz and D Rosner. Deceit and Denial: The
Deadly Politics of Industrial Pollution. (University of California
Press/Milbank Memorial Fund, 2002).
115
D Michaels. ‘‘Doubt Is Their Product.’’ Scientific Ameri-
can 292 (2005): 96–101.
DANI ET AL.
Source BAsL/SW
(mg/g) References
Autopsy 2.800 Yoo et al. (2002)
Surgery 0.116 Brodziak-Dopierala
et al. (2011)
0.060 Mari et al. (2014)
0.190 Mari et al. (2014)
Median: 0.153
Jerusalem who overview and perform human biomoni-
toring studies in Israel since the 1970s.116 They stressed
that ‘‘ecocide—the large-scale destruction, depletion, or
contamination of natural ecosystems—can result in wide-
spread damage to health, survival, fertility, reproduction,
and sustenance, and forced flight. International early
warning and effective response systems are needed to deter
or prevent political decisions to carry out genocide. Such
systems must include long-term measures to resolve zero-
sum conflicts over environmental resources and to prevent
toxic risks to vulnerable populations and destruction of
habitat by deliberate or wanton ecologic abuse (.).’’117
Geocide and ecocide, as well as the genocidal type
outcomes of the large-scale gold mining activities in
Paracatu that have been carried out during last three
decades—despite mounting evidence for wanton wide-
spread environmental degradation and contamination,
chronic mass intoxication, and persistent human rights
abuse—have been possible largely thanks to facilitation
(or ‘‘facilitating’’) payments to local government offi-
cials118 and production of fraudulent reports by certain
scientists and technicians hired by the mining operators
to execute their strategy of toxicological greenwashing
and knowledge or willful blindness. According to Wes-
tra,119 knowledge or willful blindness, that is, knowingly
producing or exporting dangerous products, if it subjects
to risks shown to exist elsewhere, should be considered a
crime against humanity. These crimes must be investi-
gated and the responsible must be punished.
CONCLUSION
Sentinel surveillance allowed for the detection of CAsI
in Paracatu and played a major role in CAsI diagnostics.
116
T Berman, Y Amitai, S Almog, and ED Richter. ‘‘Human
Biomonitoring in Israel: Past, Present, Future.’’ International
Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health 215 (2012): 138–
141.
117
ED Richter, R Blum, T Berman, and GH Stanton. ‘‘Mal-
thusian Pressures, Genocide, and Ecocide.’’ International Journal
of Occupational and Environmental Health 13 (2007): 331–341.
118
inross Gold Corporation. Kinross Code of Ethics in Busi-
ness. 2008. <www.kinross.com/corporate/governance-conduct
.html>. (Last accessed January 7, 2008).
119
L Westra. Ecoviolence and the Law. Supranormative
Foundations of Ecocrime. (Transnational Publishers, Ardsley,
NY, 2004).
 GEOCIDE, ECOCIDE, AND GENOCIDAL TYPE OUTCOMES IN PARACATU, BRAZIL
Therefore, mandatory CAsI surveillance must be estab-
lished in Paracatu. Since it is clear that the only efficient
way of reducing chronic iAs exposure and avoiding
further human losses is the inactivation of the source of
anthropogenic iAs, there must be no priority of com-
pensation over return to the status quo ante by closing the
mine, inactivating and immobilizing the iAs to reduce the
contamination and intoxication risks, and safely dispos-
ing of the tailings, for example, by pit filling to eliminate
earth dam failure risks.
Also, any current or future mining of FeAsS ores must
not be permitted, unless it is absolutely guaranteed that
(1) the ore and the tailings are completely immobilized in
the solid state, in real time, simultaneous, coordinated
mining and restoration actions; (2) simultaneous trans-
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parent monitoring of the total environment is continu-
ously performed by qualified independent professionals
and; (3) simultaneous continuous health monitoring and
health care of the affected peoples are performed by
qualified independent medical experts.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The patients have given consent for their case report
to be published. We thank Prof. Jan Roelof van der
Meer (Department of Fundamental Microbiology, Uni-
versity of Lausanne, Switzerland) for valuable help with
arsenic bioluminescence assays, PD Dr. Martin Volk-
mann (MVZ Labor PD Dr. Volkmann and Kollegen,
Karlsruhe, Germany) for arsenic AAS assays, and Prof.
Dr. Wolfgang Korte (Kantonsspital St. Gallen) for urine
assays. We thank Dr. Werner C. Albrich (Division of
Infectious Diseases and Hospital Epidemiology, St.
Gallen Cantonal Hospital, Switzerland), Prof. Jörg
Feldmann (College of Physical Sciences—Chemistry
13
Trace Element Speciation Laboratory [TESLA], Uni-
versity of Aberdeen, Scotland, United Kingdom), Prof.
Karin Broberg and Prof. Marie Vahter (Institute of
Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institute, Sweden)
for valuable comments on previous versions of the ar-
ticle. We thank Hanna Nery Ferraz Martins, Fabio
Henrique Santana, Gerhard Franz Walter, and James
Yap for valuable comments on the article. We gratefully
acknowledge the support of Prof. Thomas Cerny (De-
partment of Medical Oncology and Hematology, St.
Gallen Cantonal Hospital, Switzerland). We mourn with
great sorrow the death of our beloved colleague and
friend Paulo Maurı́cio Serrano Neves, who passed away
on 14th January 2019.
AUTHOR DISCLOSURE STATEMENT
The authors are employees of their respective institu-
tions and declare no actual or potential competing fi-
nancial interests related to the work presented. S.U.D.,
M.J.S., P.M.S.N. (in memoriam), and L.T. are supporters
of the Acangau Foundation/Medawar Institute, a private
science foundation according to Brazilian law. The au-
thors further certify that their freedom to design, conduct,
interpret, and publish research is not compromised by
any controlling sponsor.
Address correspondence to:
Sergio Ulhoa Dani
Badstrasse 5
CH-7310 Bad Ragaz
Switzerland
E-mail: srgdani@gmail.com