Deep in the Amazon, Indigenous women say they fear getting pregnant.

Rivers that have been the lifeblood of their people now carry mercury from illegal gold mining, threatening the health of their unborn children.

At Sai Cinza, a Munduruku community surrounded by illegal mines, the family of three-year-old Rany Ketlen struggles to understand why she has never been able to raise her head and suffers from muscle spasms.

Scientists may soon have an answer.

Rany is one of at least 36 people in the area, mostly children, with neurological disorders not explained by genetic tests, according to preliminary data from a groundbreaking study into the impacts of mercury contamination.

While scientists have warned of the risks that mercury could pose to Indigenous children in the Amazon, none hav

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