Mercury (mercury, Hg) is one of the metals which are found in nature and dispersed in the rock, ore, soil, water and air as the organic and inorganic compounds. Mercury is a metal that is a liquid under normal circumstances gray, odorless with a molecular weight of 200.59. Not soluble in water, alcohol, ether, hydrochloric acid, hydrogen bromide and hydrogen iodide; Soluble in nitric acid, hot sulfuric acid and lipid. Not tercampurkan with oxidizer, halogen materials combustibles, metals, acids, metal carbide and amines.
Mercury generally have lower levels toxic to animals, plants and humans. Mercury is very useful for the growth of biological needs. However, the excessive levels would be toxic. So at this time such as medical devices do not use mercury thermometers anymore.
Mercury is very dangerous because of the nature of binding. When mercury is mixed with sea water, then it will bind mercury and chlorine to form HgCl. Furthermore HgCl will easily enter the body will move kebiota plankton and other sea. Inorganic mercury (HgCl) will be transformed into organic mercury (methyl mercury) by the role of micro-organisms that occur in aquatic sediments. Mercury can also be bound with carbon to form organo-mercury compounds.
Organo-mercury compounds are the most common is methyl mercury produced by microorganisms in water and soil. Microorganisms then ingested by the fish so that the concentration of mercury in fish increases. The level of domestic consumption of fish is very high. So that the mercury in the fish will quickly move into the human body and will also damage in humans.
Therefore, mercury waste generated in the gold mining people should not be directly discharged into the river. Waste should be deposited earlier in settling ponds so high Hg levels can be reduced.
In addition, levels of Hg in river water will damage marine life in the river water. Mercury poisons the water that entered, so it will kill the living things in it. Mercury also change the class of water in nature. For example, only one class of water normally used for public drinking water. If there is water around the gold mining people, then automatically there water will be polluted. Water class that have good quality will easily turn into three or even four classes of water that will not be able to return to setuasi initially.
Very much the loss caused mercury. Not only nature, but also affect humans. There are so many diseases in humans caused by the mercury. Among them are:
1. Toxicity is a disease of the digestive system disorders and the nervous system caused by direct contact with the mercury. Usually the patient will feel uncomfortable, in pain, and even death.
2. Hg accumulation in the body can cause tremor, parkinsonism, impaired eye lens gray, and mild anemia, followed by a nervous system disorder that is very sensitive to Hg with the first symptoms are paresthesias, ataxia, dysarthria, deafness, and eventually death.
3. Pregnant women who are exposed to alkyl mercury can cause brain damage to the fetus, resulting in defects in babies born.
4. Inorganic mercury salts can cause protein precipitation, gastrointestinal mucosal damage, kidney damage membranes, and membrane filters glomerulus.
5. Mercury also causes diseases such as skin rashes and even skin cancer. Skin cancer is very common nowadays. This is caused due to some cosmetic brands use mercury as raw material for cosmetics.
Typically, the use of cosmetics raw material in the manufacture of cosmetics mercury is skin whitening. Skin bleaching process using mercury is relatively fast. However, if use is stopped or long-term use will cause skin cancer.
Very many negative impacts caused by the mercury. The use of mercury in gold mining is not only detrimental to the workers of the mine, but also affect the nature and the people around mining.
0 comments:
Post a Comment