Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Ehime University, Matsuyama 790-8577, Japan.
Department of Forestry, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Lampung, Bandar Lampung 35145, Indonesia.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Dec 21;19(1):33. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19010033.
It is well known that atmospheric mercury (Hg) contaminates air, water, soil, and living organisms, including trees. Therefore, tree bark can be used for the environmental assessment of atmospheric contamination because it absorbs heavy metals. This study aimed to establish a new biomonitoring for the assessment of atmospheric Hg pollution. Reporting on atmospheric Hg contamination in an artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) area in North Gorontalo, Indonesia, we calculated the total weight of Hg (THg) and quantitatively measured the concentrations of Hg in the tree bark of , and . The THg of Hg in the tree bark samples ranged from not detected (ND) to 74.6 μg dry weight (DW) per sample. The total Hg in the tree bark of and ranged from ND to 156.8, ND to 180, and ND to 63.4 μg DW, respectively. We concluded that topography significantly influences the accumulation of Hg together with local weather conditions. A mapped distribution of the THg suggested that the distribution of THg in the tree bark was not affected by the distance to the amalgamation site. Therefore, tree bark can be used as biomonitoring of atmospheric Hg contamination for the assessment of ASGM areas.
众所周知，大气汞（Hg）会污染空气、水、土壤和包括树木在内的生物体。因此，树皮可以用于大气污染的环境评估，因为它会吸收重金属。本研究旨在建立一种新的生物监测方法，用于评估大气 Hg 污染。本研究报告了印度尼西亚北哥打洛（Gorontalo Utara）地区手工和小规模金矿开采（ASGM）区的大气 Hg 污染情况，我们计算了 Hg 的总重量（THg），并定量测量了 、 和 三种树木树皮中的 Hg 浓度。 的树皮样本中 Hg 的 THg 含量范围为未检出（ND）至 74.6μg 干重（DW）/每样本。 和 的树皮中总 Hg 的含量范围分别为 ND 至 156.8、ND 至 180 和 ND 至 63.4μg DW。我们得出结论，地形与当地天气条件一起显著影响 Hg 的积累。THg 的映射分布表明，树皮中 THg 的分布不受与汞齐化地点的距离的影响。因此，树皮可用作大气 Hg 污染的生物监测，用于评估 ASGM 地区。
