Mercury risk assessment scenarios: exposure from fish dietary behaviors of Katingan River Basin community.

Katingan River has been contaminated by mercury from ASGM activities since the early 2000s. This study aims to assess the risk of mercury exposure from Katingan fish consumption and analyze relationships between exposure variables. We proposed two risk assessment scenarios based on mercury analysis of 74 fish samples and fish consumption questionnaire. The risk assessment result revealed that estimated daily intakes (EDIs) of Scenario 2 were generally 3-4 times higher than Scenario 1. The statistical test results showed significant differences (p < 0.05) in EDI values between scenarios, indicating that variations in fish consumption influenced the mercury intake. Three different health reference-based values (HRVs) were applied in estimating the hazard quotient (HQ) and it influenced the HQ results (p < 0.05), for both scenarios. The relationship analysis between variables presented a strong non-linear correlation between EDI and hair mercury level for both scenarios, but a weak relationship between age and hair mercury level.

Effects of Freezing Time on Degradation of Durian (Durio Zibethinus Murr.) Fruit's Attributes During the Frozen Storage.

Freeze-process has been applied in preserving many fresh horticultural commodities addressed to the medium-distancing distribution. In this study, effect of freezing process and storage time on durian's attributes degradation was observed. 100 durian fruits were treated with two-level combinations of freezing process. The first level involves the freezing of the said fruit at -15°C for two different freezing times, that is 10 min (treatment A) and 20 min (treatment B). Followed by frozen-storage for -10°C for 0, 10, 20 and 30 days. At different interval time, the frozen samples were thawed at 4°C for 24h. Then, physical, chemical, and sensory parameters were periodically assessed. The result showed that treatment B provide a significantly better output than treatment A. This is proven through a lower weight loss, brighter and lighter yellow of the pulp, softer pulp, lower value of moisture content on the pulp, and a remained stable of succinate acid's profile. Furthermore, based on the preference evaluation test, the fruits were accepted by respondents.

Evaluation of the Total Mercury Weight Exposure Distribution Using Tree Bark Analysis in an Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining Area, North Gorontalo Regency, Gorontalo Province, Indonesia.

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 Mangifera indica, Syzygium aromaticum, Terminalia catappa, and Lansium domesticum. The THg of Hg in the M. indica 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 S. aromaticum, T. catappa, and L. domesticum 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.