Mercury contamination from artisanal gold mining in Kayeli Bay-Buru Island, Indonesia
1 Corry Yanti Manullang; 2 Muhammad Reza Cordova; 3 Tryoni Purbonegoro
1. Center for Deep Sea Research - Indonesian Institute of Sciences
2 & 3 : Research Center for Oceanography, Indonesian Institute of Sciences
Abstract
Since late 2011 mercury has been used to extract the gold requiring in artisanal gold mining in Mt. Botak (Buru Island) and resulting in deposition of mercury into Kayeli Bay. In this project we reported the updated total mercury (THg) concentration in marine sediment and nine spesies of domersal fish from Kayeli Bay. Nine coastal sampling sites were selected in the Kayeli Bay by purposive sampling. The fish are collected from traditional market in Buru Island. The total mercury (THg) concrentrations in marine sediment were found in all sites, ranged from (in mg/kg, dry weight): 0.035 to 4.802. The THg concentrations in sediments from all sites measured were found has exceeded the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) value. Among fish, the highest THg concentration of 1.667 mg/kg DW was measured in the muscle species Myripristis kuntee and the lowest THg concentration detected for Lutjanus Lutjanus (0.016mg/kg dw). The distribution of total mercury (THg) concentrations found in marine sediment of Kayeli Bay shows a very closed relationship to the artisanal gold mining activity in Mt Botak..
Keywords: Mercury, artisanal gold mining, marine sediment, fish, Kayeli Bay
Topic: Coastal Degradation and Coastal Hazard