A/HRC/21/48 immediate area around the mine, but even of the communities living hundreds of kilometres downstream, thereby affecting the fundamental right of access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation of these communities. Mercury contamination is of particular concern due to its global dispersion. Regarding the quality of water, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, in its general comment No. 15 (2002) on the right to water, emphasizes that water must be “free from micro-organisms, chemical substances and radiological hazards that constitute a threat to a person’s health” (para 12 (b)). There are also serious implications on the right to health and the right to life if people use unsafe drinking water. The international framework also provides for the protection of this right for specific groups, including children, women, people living with disabilities and indigenous peoples, with the aim of ensuring that water is available, accessible, safe, acceptable and affordable for all, without discrimination. As recognized in international human rights law, access to water that is free from hazardous substances is not only essential for human health (the right to health) and ensuring livelihoods (right to gain a living from work), but also for the enjoyment of certain cultural practices (right to take part in cultural life), as is often the case for coastal communities and indigenous peoples. 40. Furthermore, due to their use and production of hazardous substances and wastes, extraction industries require massive amounts of water, which can permanently remove billions of gallons of water from the earth’s hydrological cycle. This may infringe on the human right to water by undermining the availability of a sufficient and continuous water supply for personal and domestic uses. Dewatered aquifers and contaminated water supplies may require communities to travel further to collect safe drinking water. E. Right to the enjoyment of a safe, clean and healthy sustainable environment 41. The unsound management of hazardous substances and waste from extractive industries may cause significant environmental pollution, which in turn negatively impacts a range of human rights. For example, elemental mercury and other heavy metals and toxic substances found in gas reserves are released into the atmosphere during oil and gas extraction processes, while cyanide leaching to extract gold from low-grade ores releases and estimated 20,000 tons of hydrogen cyanide into the atmosphere.27 42. The Special Rapporteur is pleased to observe the growing consensus among States on the right to the enjoyment of a safe, clean and healthy sustainable environment.28 He encourages further studies and consultations on pollution caused by extractive industries, including on the contribution of airborne hazardous substances to global pollution and to the greenhouse effect, the human rights impact thereof, as well as the extra-territorial obligations that arise therefrom. IV. Emerging issues in extractive industries 43. The following paragraphs give a brief overview of the emerging issues in extractive industries which aggravate or contribute to the impact of hazardous substances on human rights, either directly or indirectly. 27 28 12 UNEP/ILO/WHO, “Hydrogen Cyanide and Cyanides: Human Health Aspects,” Concise International Chemical Assessment Document 61 (Geneva, 2004). Available at http://www.inchem.org/documents/ cicads/cicads/cicad 61.htm. Human Rights Council resolution 19/10, Human Rights and the Environment.