Determination and contamination status of mercury and other heavy metals in artisanal and small-scale gold mining at Banyumas region, Central Java, Indonesia, using ICP-OES

The determination of mercury and other heavy metals (As, Cd, Cr, Ni, and Pb) has been carried out as toxic metals for the human body. Sample preparation was carried out by the microwave digested assist. The determination of heavy metals was carried out using the ICP-OES. The validation parameters used were linearity, Limit of Detection (LoD), Limit of Quantitation (LoQ), precision, and accuracy. Mercury, Arsen, Cadmium, Chromium, Nickel, and Lead average content in sediment gold ore processing waste was 1617.64, 5525.09, 20.24, 484.96, 259.67, and 1210.27 μg/kg, respectively. Linearity used a standard solution of 10–1000 μg/kg, and it produced a regression equation with r2 > 0.9992. The Limit of Detection (LoD) and the Limit of Quantitation (LoQ) was below 1.56 μg/kg and 6.27 μg/kg, respectively. The precision was calculated by the repeatability method, with a result of %RSD below 2.30%. Accuracy was obtained by recovering a spiked standard. The recovery value was found to be between 83% and 118%. Geoaccumulation Index (Igeo), Metal Pollution Index (MPI), Degree of Contamination (Cdeg), and Potential Ecological Risk Index (PERI) in this study was −8.62–1.43, 0.02–5.33, 8.80, and 168.59, respectively. The waste processing site at Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining is generally contaminated by mercury and other heavy metals. All the validation parameters of the method are in the acceptability range, so the method can be used as a routine method for determining mercury and other heavy metals (As, Cd, Cr, Ni, and Pb) levels in gold ore processing waste.