RISK ANALYSIS OF CHILDREN MERCURY EXPOSURE AROUND ARTISANAL SMALL-SCALE GOLD MINING (ASGM) (CASE STUDY: WG, MR, DH, AND KB REGENCY)

• Main Author: Maulida, Fatimah
• Format: Theses
• Language: Indonesia
• Subjects: Teknik saniter dan perkotaan; teknik perlindungan lingkungan
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/41309
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

Artisanal and Small-scale Gold Mining (ASGM) activities use mercury amalgamation in the process of separation of gold from rocks, which leads to decreased environmental quality (soil, water, air, and sediment) because tailing containing mercury is directly disposed off into the environment. Children are more vulnerable to health problems as compared to adults, because they exposed they were already exposed to mercury during their embryonic or breast feeding, during childhood from contaminated food and beverages, inhalation of ambient contaminated air, or dermal exposure during playing (like putting their hand in their mouth or from other activities. So the potential of mercury exposure in children is greater than that in adults. This study is meant to find out the risk of mercury exposure to children living near ASGM. The risk can be identified by calculating the inhalation and oral intakes, and samples taken were urine, blood, drinking water, rice, fish, and ambient air, and will be expressed as HI’s. This study was conducted from July to October 2018 involving 198 children, based on grab sampling method. For children living <500 meter from amalgam burning places a significant association was found between Hg in urine and inhalation intake, i.e., r = 0.668 (p<0.01), and Hg in blood and oral intake, with r = 0.778 (p<0.01). 73.74% of the population showed a HI>1, meaning, that if exposure to and intake of mercury continue, they might suffer from mercury intoxication. It can thus be recommended to control, trade, and use of mercury in the community. Therefore, management is needed in the practice of using mercury when burning gold amalgam and improving the tailing contaminated mercury.