BACKGROUND: Gold mining, especially by the community, causes many problems. One of the problems is the increase in mercury pollution. The amalgamation technique involving mercury in the gold processing process is still widely used by miners and has the potential to threaten the health of workers and the surrounding community. AIM: This study aimed to identify mercury levels in soot at the location of a traditional gold processing plant in Paya Seumantok Village, Krueng Sabee District, Aceh Jaya District. METHODS: This research was conducted at the Environmental Quality Analysis laboratory, Chemical Engineering Department, Syiah Kuala University, Banda Aceh, in May–August 2021. The sample in this study was soot caught on cloth attached to the gold kiln location by amalgamation using the quadrant method. The soot sample was obtained from the people’s gold processing unit in Gampong Paya Seumantok, Krueng Seabee District; then, the fabric sample containing soot was destroyed using HNO3 in the microwave. Measurement of mercury levels, using AAS Perkin-Elmer Analyst 600, equipped with Graphite Furnace (AAS) Technique. RESULTS: The results of the identification show that the mercury level in the first stage of measurement found the highest mercury concentration at a distance of 10 cm with a concentration of 41.90 (±21.64) g-Hg/g, a distance of 5 cm was obtained at 28.71 (±11. 0.98) g-Hg/g, and at a distance of 15 cm obtained 28.20 (±2.85) g-Hg/g. Furthermore, in the measurement of samples in stages 2 and 3, the mercury concentration in soot is influenced by distance, where the closer the distance, the higher the mercury concentration. Stage 2 measurement at a distance of 5 cm, the mercury concentration obtained is 26.84 (±21.05) g-Hg/g, a distance of 10 and 15 cm each has a concentration of 9.25 (±1.26) g-Hg/g and 9.91 (±3.59) g-Hg/g, and in the third stage of the test, the highest concentration located at a distance of 5 cm with a concentration of 20.27 (±3.57) g-Hg/g. CONCLUSION: The average value of mercury concentration in soot obtained far exceeds the threshold set by the World Health Organization, which is 1 g-Hg/gram. Mercury levels that have exceeded the threshold need to be filtered in an enclosed space before the smoke from burning gold spreads into the free air.
Since oil is the primary source of vanadium in the environment and crude oil has a correspondingly high percentage of vanadium. Vanadium is crucial as a sign of oil contamination. Twenty soil samples were taken from various locations surrounding the East Baghdad oil field in Iraq during February 2022 and then analyzed to determine the effects of industrialization along with urbanization-related pollutants. The soil samples were analyzed using spectrophotometry analysis. In soil samples taken from the research area, vanadium concentrations range from (0.26 to 1.2 ppm). The contamination (CF), geoaccumulation (Igeo) and Enrichment factors (EF) indicated that all the soil samples are uncontaminated.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.