Artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) has been operated in Sukabumi District, West Java, Indonesia, for more than two decades. ASGM uses mercury in a ball mill gold ore processing, and the waste is released into the environment during and after this process. Previous studies have found that mercury-contaminated water, air, sediments, soil, and aquatic biota. This study aimed to predict and analyze total mercury pathways from ASGM in the air, water, sediment, fish, and humans using a system dynamics model. The results showed that the total mercury concentration in water was low and still meets the standard, while the total mercury concentration in sediment had already exceeded the standard. Biomagnification occurred to plankton feeder fish and top predator fish, but still below the level of tolerance mercury. Mercury levels in top predator fish and humans take a long time to exceed the standard (77 and 67 months after entering the body, respectively). The percentage error of 17.67% compared to the experimental data showed that the prediction of the developed system dynamics model is acceptable. Therefore, the model can be used to predict the total mercury pathways in the environment, especially in the ASGM area.
Mercury (Hg) is a heavy metal that is commonly found in waters and sediments. Mercury and its derivatives are highly toxic). Their presence in the aquatic environment can be very detrimental. Aspergillus fungi are known to reduce Hg levels in pollutants. Our research aim was to evaluate the toxic effect of Hg after being reduced by local isolates of Penicillium sp. strain A4. A toxicity test was conducted on juvenile Caroline platyfish (Xiphophorus maculatus). The research was conducted by growing fungal isolates on potato dextrose broth (PDB) medium with the addition of Hg at 7 days of incubation. The Hg concentration was measured before and after the incubation. The acute toxicity test was conducted with two serial concentrations: 50% and 100% of PDB-Hg media from fungal removal, as well as one control. The acute toxicity test was carried out for 48 hours and the number of deaths of Xiphophorus maculatus was counted. The results showed a decrease of mercury concentration from 3.14 ppm to 0.797 ppm in PDB-Hg media on the activity of isolates of Penicillium sp. strain A4 resulting in 74.6% mercury removal. Acute toxicity test results showed that concentrations of 50% and 100% of PDB-Hg media caused 100% death of the fish. The results of this study can be used as initial data to determine the quality criteria for waste containing mercury that can be discharged into river bodies and strategies for using fungi applications using local isolates of Penicillium sp. strain A4, which has the potential for wastewater treatment before being discharged into the waters to reduce its toxic effects.
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