Mercury Contamination in the Atmosphere of Aceh Province, Indonesia

Abstract

The mercury concentrations in the atmosphere and in rivers were measured in the Krueng Sabee town Aceh Jaya District in Indonesia where a small-scale gold mining was heavily done on July 2010. The gaseous mercury concentration was measured with the simultaneous use of passive samplers, recently developed for multi-point sampling, and active samplers. Nine passive samplers were placed in the gold mine and along the main street of the town. Seven water samples from the Krueng Sabee River and its tributaries, two samples from a water treatment plant that supplies water to the town before and after the treatment, and two samples from wells were taken to determine the total mercury concentration. The highest concentration of gaseous mercury was found in the plant, 1,740 ng m^-3; this value was higher than the WHO guidelines and the Japanese Environmental Standard of 1,000 ng m^-3and 40 ng m^-3, respectively. The highest mercury concentration among the water samples was found in well water, 78 ng L^-1; this value was much lower than the WHO guidelines and the Japanese standard for drinking water of 1,000 ng L^-1 and 500 ng L^-1, respectively. The adverse effect of gaseous mercury on the health of the workers is a concern.