“There are emissions from coal-burning, cement industry and also small-scale gold mining,” Garbage and Toxic and Dangerous Materials Handling Director General at Ministry Rosa Vivein Ratnawati stated.
Ratnawati stated that this is what the Presidential Regulation on Mercury Reduction and Eradication National Action Plan attempts reduce and ban.
In relation to the mercury use in gold mining, she stated that the Mercury Reduction and Eradication National Action Plan RAN PPM had banned the use of this material.
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Mercury could also enter the environment through human activities like incinerator and crematorium trash, and leaks in landfills, which could lead to groundwater and water bodies.
This could lead to mercury entering the water supply and food chain.
Furthermore, sedimentation could be caused by mercury emission that enters into the environment during rains that are causal to mercury pollution on land.
Ratnawati explained that mercury exposure can have a wide range of effects, including the destruction of the skin, lung, and central nervous systems; digestive problems; and kidney failure.
She noted that mercury-containing fish, such as fish, could harm a pregnant mother’s fetus.
In an earlier attempt to stop the illegal mercury trade, Indonesia had called for global cooperation.
Muhsyin Sihab, Foreign Affairs Minister Special staff, said that countries are unable to stop criminals in illegal trade moving across borders because of a lack of international cooperation.
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