Total mercury pathways from artisanal and small-scale gold mining in Sukabumi using system dynamics model

Abstract

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.