In this work the toxic and ecotoxicological effect of black sand (ANM) from artisanal gold extraction in the department of Madre de Dios was studied. Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP) was used to evaluate the toxic effect and with the leachates,acute ecotoxicity tests were performed according to EPA protocol 600 / 3-88 / 029 using test microorganisms, Daphnia Magna neonates , with 24 hours of birth and in seeds of Lactuca Sativa. The quantification of total mercury in ANM samples and in leachates was performed by Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectroscopy. The values obtained of total mercury in the ANM samples were in the range of 0.1 and> 275 mg/kg of black sand indicating that they exceed the background values by 1000 times. In the leachates the total mercury concentration was in the range of 0.001 and> 2.75 mg/L, some of these values exceed the maxi...