Mercury spells disaster in W. Kalimantan
Bambang Bider, Contributor, Pontianak, West Kalimantan
Rivers with clean water in West Kalimantan are a thing of the past, an exotic memory for today's generation. The upper reaches of Kapuas from which all of West Kalimantan's streams originate, are in a disastrous state. River water is unfit for consumption; muddy as a result of unlicensed gold mining activity and contaminated with mercury used by the miners.
Foul water is not only a tragedy for the environment but can cost human lives. In Minamata, a small area on the western coast of Kyushu, Japan, thousands were left physically and mentally disabled by a disease known as Minamata's disease. The disease was caused by methyl mercury poisoning, a result of waste dumped by the Chisso Corporation and claimed the lives of 1,800 people. The Chisso Corporation had been dumping waste at sea since 1932.
Similar cases of deadly pollution occurred in Iraq (1961), Western Pakistan (1963) and Guatemala (1966). In Indonesia, cases were reported in Minahasa, northern Sulawesi (where rivers and fishponds were contaminated by mercury and cyanide) and in Tanjung Bungo, Pasaman regency in West Sumatra.
In the Kapaus Hulu Regency, the community of Cempaka Baru village protested against the operation of 200 suction pumps by unlicensed gold miners, which commenced in November 2002. The unlicensed activity aroused the anxiety of local villagers because of environmental damage, the declining health of the community and socio-cultural conditions.
Unlicensed gold miners not only dig in places believed to contain gold deposits but also suck sand from rivers. This has caused the emergence of a new danger; the threat of mercury poisoning.
Research by scientist Tugaswati in 1983 indicated that the mercury level of several species of fish in West Kalimantan's Kapuas and Landak rivers reached 50 mg/g far exceeding the acceptable threshold of 0.5 mg/g for marine food products set by the World Health Organization.
Research conducted in 2000 by Dr. Thamrin Usman of the School of Agriculture, Tanjungpura University, Pontianak, showed that samples taken from the junction of the Landak and Kapuas rivers revealed a shocking mercury content of 199.27 ppm (parts per million). Snakehead fish taken from the Tayan river registered a mercury grade of 3.37 ppm. The maximum tolerable mercury content is safe for human consumption is 0.46 ppm. This data indicates there is an excessive mercury content in the Kapuas.
Further studies by Setyati and Nofrita in 2002 concluded that samples of Kepah (Corbicula sp) and oysters (Anadara granulosa) found for sale at traditional markets in the capital city of Pontianak had mercury levels of 0.196 ppm and 0.686 ppm respectively.
The latest research project -- undertaken from September 2002 to April 2003 by the Marine Resources Research Center (PPSDAK) in cooperation with Tanjungpura University and the provincial Industrial and Trade Research and Standardization Center -- has released its results.
From February to March 2003 laboratory tests at the provincial research center in Pontianak used hair and nail samples from miners and communities around Monterado village, Bengkayang regency, Ayak river, Kapuas Hulu regency, Sekayam and Tayan rivers, Sanggau Kapuas regency, Nanga Sepauk, Mandor river, Landak regency, as well as those from consumers of Pontianak's municipal drinking water company (PDAM).
The project sought to measure the mercury level in the nails and hair of people living around gold mines. Such biological monitoring would thus indicate the impact of unlicensed gold mining using the toxic metal. The research found that all miners and consumers of PDAM water were contaminated by mercury.
Hair sample test results showed the highest mercury content was found among people living near gold mines (4.69 mg/g). This was followed by miners (4.39 mg/g) and PDAM consumers (1.30 mg/g). Nail sample results showed the highest level of mercury for PDAM subscribers (2.80 mg/g), with lower levels for miners (2.22 mg/g) and local people (1.76 mg/g). However, nail mercury results were still within the normal range of 0.4-6.0 mg/g (Chen et al.) although some samples exceeded this.
"Unless this situation is immediately rectified mercury accumulation in Kapuas river will increase in the next five years. The Minamata tragedy will repeat itself in West Kalimantan as a consequence," PPSDAK researcher Michael Eko warned.
Eko said in all places where samples were taken, subjects complained about declining health and low immunity to disease. "The exact cause of the ill-health is not proved yet but as mercury can enter the body through food, it may be an initial indication of mercury accumulation," he said.
Provincial councillor Yanuarius Buan said he had urged the government to take serious action as a result of Thamrin Usman's research. At the very least this could make the West Kalimantan public aware of the mercury threat. "But I've seen no proper response to the issue," he added.
According to the Regional Environment Impact Control Agency, the government faces the constraint of low public awareness, the limitations of human resources, limited supporting facilities and infrastructures, weak law enforcement, the sectoral ego and overlaps between sectoral interests and environmental interests.
Miners use mercury to separate gold from other particles. The burning of mercury in this process causes its escape into the air and it ends up in the rivers and other bodies of water. The metal undergoes biotransformation in the water and becomes methyl mercury, which is consumed by plankton and contained in the food fish eat. Through bioaccumulation and biomagnification in fish and other biotas, it also enters the human body when contaminated fish is eaten and can cause various health problems, such as immune defficiency and cancers.
Nearly all rivers in West Kalimantan are the sites of unlicensed gold mining using mercury. Most of this mining activity takes place upstream, consequentially turning Kapuas river into a receptacle of toxic waste.