Mapping domestic water use to quantify water-demand and water-related contaminant exposure in a peri-urban community, Indonesia.

Water use of domestic activities was quantified by interviewing 217 people in a peri-urban community near Bandung, Indonesia. Resulting in data on domestic water demand and data needed for exposure modelling of domestic activities: drinking, cooking, brushing teeth, swimming, bathing, laundry, dishwashing, religious cleansing, washing hands and cleaning food. Average total domestic water usage was 117 l/person/day, topping the WHO guidelines for basic needs (50-100 l/person/day). This water use level is comparable with higher income countries for the same set of activities but 100% higher than water use in an Indonesian traditional rural community. The final dataset provides insight in quantity of water used for domestic activities, as well as the use-frequency, duration and water sources used. These data are scarce for Indonesia and other low-middle income countries but necessary for water demand studies and estimating risks through exposure to pathogens and emerging contaminants in human exposure modelling.

Respiratory health risk assessment of children living close to industrial areas in Indonesia.

Industrial areas are considered to have higher risk of air pollution impact especially to children living close to the industry. Two separate industrial areas in Indonesia were compared. The first location was in the area of coal transportation activity in South Kalimantan, and the second location was in the area of Bogor, West Java where used battery processing industry was often found. Fifty children (boys and girls, aged 6-15 years) were involved in South Kalimantan whereas in West Java there were 48 children (boys and girls, aged 10-12 years) involved. The control groups were also studied in both areas. Predicted average daily intake (ADD) of respirable particulate was estimated and respiratory function was measured using spirometer. The study showed that the PM2.5 concentration in industrial area was 3 times higher than those found in the control location. As a result, the predicted ADD of particulate of children living close to industry in South Kalimantan was 25.45±10.55 µg/kg.day whereas in West Java, the ADD was 1.5 times higher. For both studied area, boys' respirable particulate intake was shown to have higher intake than those in girls. Lung function of children revealed that more than 68% of children in the coal transportation area had decreased pulmonary function. The study also noted that some children in West Java had indicated an obstructive and restrictive respiratory condition. The risk of girls having mild lung disease was found to be 1.3 times greater than those in the control group whereas in boys, the risk was 1.9 times than those in control area. Respiratory function of children in West Java study area was considered to worsen by the higher Pb emission from used battery processing activity.

Environmental prioritization of pesticide in the Upper Citarum River Basin, Indonesia, using predicted and measured concentrations.

A novel screening method was developed to prioritize aquatic and human health risks of pesticides based on usage data, runoff modelling and effect prediction. An important asset of this new method is that it does not require measured concentration data, which are often unavailable or difficult to obtain in low- and middle-income countries like Indonesia. The method was applied to prioritize 31 agricultural pesticides used in the Upper Citarum River Basin in West Java, Indonesia. Ranking of pesticides based on predicted concentrations generally showed good agreement with ranking based on concentrations measured by passive sampling. The individual pesticide intake through the consumption of river water was predicted to cause negligible human health risks, but substantial aquatic risks (i.e. PEC/PNEC >1) were predicted for profenofos (5.2.E+01), propineb (3.6.E+01), chlorpyrifos (2.6.E+01), carbofuran (1.7.E+01), imidacloprid (9.4.E+00), methomyl (7.6.E+00) and chlorantraniliprole (3.6.E+00). In order to protect the aquatic environment, water managers are advised to take measures to reduce the use and runoff of these pesticides in the UCRB. The screening assessment can be further refined by performing additional effect studies for some pesticides, pesticide mixtures and validation of the predicted water concentrations by targeted measurements.