Behavioral mercury exposure of people in artisanal and small-scale gold mining site area at lebaksitu village, 2017

Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining (ASGM) is the second largest mercury contamination in the world after the burning of coal. ASGM uses gold and mercury amalgamation to extract gold from ores, then released into the environment to be waste during the process of purifying gold, so that it can affect the biota living in the environment. Lebaksitu Village is at an altitude of 690 meters above sea level, which geographically has a strategic potential for agricultural development. In addition, the area also produces some mining materials, such as limestone, aluminum, and gold. Mining and gold processing in Lebaksitu area has been around since 1994 until now, then the products are processed by the locals themselves. Agent disease with or without the ride of other environmental components enters the body through a process known as an “interactive relationship” process. The interactive relationship between the environmental component and the population along with its behavior can be measured in the concept called “behavioral exposure”. This study aimed to analyze the behavioral mercury exposure of people in ASGM site area. The study used cross-sectional study design. The study was conducted on May 2017 with 68 respondents included in the research sample after determination of inclusion and exclusion criteria. Data were obtained from the laboratory test results of blood samples and interview results of respondents, then analyzed by using chi-square test. The results of study found no significant correlation between behavioral exposure and blood mercury level. As much as 77.9% of research subject had blood mercury levels above the threshold. There were 76.5% of people who behaved less well and the length of stay >10 years exceeding half of the total respondents interviewed (82.4%). This study is expected to be useful in providing input to the Lebaksitu Village stakeholders as an effort to control the use of mercury to preserve the environment and improve the public health.