INVENTORY OF MERCURY RELEASES IN INDONESIA
Dr mont Kania Dewi, ST MT,*,†, Email: kaniadewi@ftsl.itb.ac.id Ir. Yuyun Ismawati, MScb, Email: yuyun.Ismawati@Irz.uni-muenchen.de
a Study Program of Environmental Engineering, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Indonesia
b Center for International Health, LMU Munich, Germany
* Presenter; † Corresponding author.
Abstract:
The first inventory of Mercury (Hg) releases in Indonesia had been conducted by the use of the "Toolkit for identification and quantification of mercury releases" made available by the United Nations Environment Program’s Chemicals division (UNEP Chemicals). This inventory was developed on the Toolkits Inventory Level 1, based on mass balances for each mercury release source type. The results of Hg inventory utilizing default input factors shows that total mercury released was estimated to be approximately 339,250 Kg Hg/y. The individual mercury release which contribute the highest mercury inputs were: gold extraction with mercury amalgamation, oil and gas production, coal combustion and other coal use, waste incineration and open waste burning, use and disposal of other products, and informal dumping of general waste. The gold extraction with Hg amalgamation as the individual mercury release contributing the highest mercury releases to the environment (57.5% of the total Hg emission from all contributors). The highest Hg releases were emitted to the atmosphere, i.e., 59.32% of the total Hg emission to all pathways.
Keywords: inventory level 1; Activity rate; default input factor,
1. Introduction
Mercury is recognized as a toxic substance that poses a serious threat to human health and the environment. Mercury release may originate from natural resources due to natural mobilization of naturally occurring mercury from the earth's crust, such as volcanic activity and weathering of rocks. Mercury release also comes from the human activities which use mercury as the substance intentionally added to the process or product, as well as substance which is unintentionally emitted (Hg impurities in raw materials) as the results of certain process such as combustions.
Main sources of mercury release to the environment and main control options are depicted in Figure 1.
Identification of mercury releases from human activities is very important in order to be able to decide the strategic plan in overcoming the release of mercury, as well as finding the most cost-effective reduction measures for decision making. Often, such inventories are also vital in the communication with stakeholders such as industry,
trade and the public. The first inventory of mercury release in Indonesia had been conducted using toolkit from United Nation Environmental Program (UNEP). This Toolkit aims at guiding users in the identification and quantification of human-generated mercury releases that can potentially be reduced through various regulatory actions or other approaches.
Figure 1. Main sources of mercury (Hg) releases to the environment and main control options [1]
The Toolkit concentrates on current anthropogenic releases from mobilization of mercury impurities, from intentional use of mercury in products and processes and from human-generated deposits such as landfills, contaminated sites and mine tailing piles. These overall modes of anthropogenic releases form the backbone of the categorization of release sources in the Toolkit. Natural mercury sources and remobilization of previous atmospheric deposition are not covered in the Toolkit, as release reduction initiatives are not relevant for these sources. These sources do, however, contribute to the adverse impacts of mercury on human health and the environment, and may in some areas warrant particular attention for these reasons [1].
The Toolkit aims at guiding users in the identification and quantification of human-generated mercury releases that can potentially be reduced through various regulatory actions or other approaches. Therefore, the Toolkit concentrates on current anthropogenic releases from mobilization of mercury impurities, from intentional use of mercury in products and processes and from human-generated deposits such as landfills, contaminated sites and mine tailing piles. The quantified amount of Hg release gives the first insight of the situation of Hg release in the national level.
Comparable sets of mercury source release data will enhance international co-operation, discussion, goal-definition and assistance. Comparable datasets from many countries will help to establish a global picture of the scale of releases, and improve possibilities for enlarging the international knowledge base on mercury uses and releases[1].
2. Materials and Methods
The estimation of Hg release was carried out by the use of the "Toolkit for identification and quantification of mercury releases" made available by the United Nations Environment Program’s Chemicals division (UNEP Chemicals). The Toolkit is available at UNEP Chemicals' website:
http://www.unep.org/hazardoussubstances/Mercury/MercuryPublications/GuidanceTr ainingMaterialToolkits/MercuryToolkit/tabid/4566/language/en-US/Default.aspx.
There are two types of inventory level (level 1 and level 2) as shown in Figure 1.
Both levels are calculated based on mass balances for each mercury release source type. The inventory works with activity rate which quantifies the mercury inputs from the amount of mercury containing material fed into the system, and pre-determined factors used in the calculation of mercury inputs to society and releases, the so-called the input factors and output distribution factors.
Figure 1. Basic Principals of UNEP Toolkit Inventory
Inventory level 1 use default input factors and output distribution factors which are already given in the toolkit, while the inventory level 2 use the site specific input factor and output distribution factors which are derived from specific study for the specific activity in the specific location. Due to the very limited information of specific input factors and output distribution factors in Indonesia, this study will use the inventory level 1. The default input factors and default output distribution factors were derived from data on mercury inputs and releases from such mercury source types from available literature and other relevant data sources. All the mercury fed into the system with materials and fuels will come out again, either as releases to the environment or in some kind of product stream. The simple basic formula is used for estimating Hg release as follows:
E = AR x IF x DF (1)
Where E is the estimated Hg release (kg/year), AR is the activity rate, IF is the input factor (a representative value that relates the quantity of a Hg released to an associated), and DF is the distribution factor (representative values that quantif y amount of released Hg to each pathway (air, water, land, by products and impurities, general waste, sector specific waste treatment/disposal).
The mercury releases were calculated for 6 main category, i.e.: energy consumption and fuel production, domestic production of metals and raw materials, domestic production and processing with intentional mercury use, waste treatment and recycling, general consumption of mercury in products as metal mercury and as mercury containing substances, crematoria and cemeteries. Each category consists of specific sub categories, which contribute the release of Hg to the environment.
3. Results and Discussion
The results of Hg inventory utilizing different default input factors are presented in Figure 1. The total mercury released was estimated to be 491,530 Kg Hg/y using the maximum values for the input factors, and if the minimum input factor were used, the estimate of 183,200 Kg Hg/yr was obtained. There is a discrepancy of about 300,000 kg Hg/y or 168% more between maximum and minimum estimation. Using the average default input factor and selected input factor for certain conditions, approximately 339,250 Kg Hg/y shall be emitted to the environment. Although there are still many uncertainties in defining the default input factors, the last estimation is considered to be the best value which is able to represent the Hg release in Indonesia.
Figure 1. Various estimation of Hg release using UNEP Toolkit Level-1
Details of Hg release estimation is presented based on the value of Hg release of 339,250 Kg Hg/y. Presentation of the results for main groups of mercury release sources are shown in Table 1, Figure 2 and Figure 3 below. The following top three source groups contribute with the major mercury inputs are: domestic production of metals and raw materials, energy consumption and fuel production, and waste treatment and recycling.
As shown in Table 1 and Figure 2, the individual sub-categories contributing the highest mercury inputs were: gold extraction with mercury amalgamation, oil and gas production, coal combustion and other coal use, waste incineration and open waste burning, use and disposal of other product, informal dumping of general waste.
Figure 2 shows the gold extraction with Hg amalgamation as the individual mercury release sub-category contributing with the highest mercury releases to the environment (57.5% of the total Hg emission from all contributors). The highest Hg releases were emitted to the atmosphere (59.32% of the total Hg emission to all pathways).
Table 1. Summary of Mercury Inventory Results from Individual Sub Categories and Their Distribution
Data Source: [1], [2], [3], [4], [5], [6], [7], [8], [9], [10], [11], [12]
Figure2. Summary of Mercury Inventory Results from Individual Sub Categories
Figure 3. Summary of Distribution of Hg Release
4. Conclusions
The inventory of mercury release in Indonesia has been done by using the UNEP Toolkit level 1. The major data gaps which influence the results of Hg release quantification are the lack of actual detail data source of activity rates for each source sub category, the difficulties in selecting the suitable input factors due to the wide disparity between minimum and maximum value of default input factors, and no information available in Indonesia for site specific input factors and output distribution factors. There may also exist source that are not accounted for, such as biomass as a source of heat production like in cooking foods is widely used in rural areas, land clearing for oil palm plantation and other intentional forest fire
Acknowledgment
The works were financially supported by U.S. Department of State under Grant Award No. SLMAQM-11-GR-027 to Ban Toxics! – Philippines and BaliFokus Foundation - Indonesia.
References
[1] United Nations Environmental Programme, UNEP, Toolkit for Identification and Quantification of Mercury Releases, Reference Report and Guidlline for Inventory Level 2, 2011
[2] Balifokus, 2011, Report of Workshop on Mercury-Free Health Care Sector in Indonesia, Denpasar Bali, Indonesia
[3] Balifokus, Global Mercuy Monitoring Project, IPEN-Fish and Hair Sampling Hotspot Report, 2012
[4] Balifokus, Medical Waste Management and Mercury in Health Sector Assessment and Its Alternatives in Bali, Indonesia, 2011
[5] Brion Doll, Oil and Gas Industry Input to INC-3, October 2011
[6] Damanhuri, Lecture Note on Solid Waste Management, Study Program of Environmental Engineering, Institut Teknologi Bandung, 2008
[7] Directorate General of Oil and Gas, Revenue Generating for Economic Growth, Annual Report, 2010
[8] http://www.bps.go.id/
[10] http://www.esdm.go.id/publikasi/statistik.html [11] www.aperlindo.com
[12] www.pln.co.id
