HEAVY METALS CONTAMINATION IN

DAVAO REGION

Ed. B. Prantilla*
and
Carmelita Martinez **
*RECORD Foundation and School of Applied Economics, USEP
**School of Government and Management, USEP
Introduction

The relevance of heavy metals

contamination in Davao Region to
Caraga Region is due to the fact that
Naboc River, which drains the gold rush
area at Diwalwal, is a tributary of
Agusan River. The Diwalwal gold rush
area uses about 6 metric tons of
mercury annually.
Objectives of the Study

Using available monitoring reports and

studies, present a consolidated report
on:
„ The extent of heavy metals
contamination of rivers and lake in
Davao Region.
Objectives (cont’d)

„ Extent of heavy metals contamination

of fish and shellfish in Davao Gulf and
in Lake Leonard.
„ Effects of mercury contamination in
human population, and
„ Recommends possible actions.
Sources of Heavy Metals
Contamination in Davao Region

„ Mercury – mainly from gold processing:

„ Estimated annual mercury consumption

by gold rush area:

Diwalwal --- 5,724 kgs.
Boringot ---- 720 kgs.
Biasong ---- 600 kgs.
Diat --------- 2,388 kgs.
Sources of heavy metals
contamination (cont’d)
Panganason ----- 588 kgs.
Gumayan -------- 1,980 kgs.
Bango ------------ 888 kgs.
Lumanggang, Maco – 84 kgs.
Lumanggang, Pantukan – 252 kgs.
Inopuan-Saravan -------- 300 kgs.
Total annual Hg consumption = 13,524 kgs.
Source of Basic Data: MGB, DENR XI
Sources of heavy metals
contamination (cont’d)

„ Lead – possible sources are from the

natural deposits of this metal in rocks
leached through weathering process
and from small-scale mining.
„ Cadmium – same as lead.
Extent of heavy metals
contamination in rivers and lake
„ Naboc River – A tributary of Agusan River,
heavily contaminated with mercury. Water in
all nine sampling stations reported mercury
contents much higher that standard set by
DAO 34 for Class C water in 2006. Lead
content of 5 out of 9 sampling stations
registered lead content higher that standard
set by DAO 34. Cadmium content below
critical level for Class C water.
Extent of heavy metals contamination in
rivers and lake (cont’d)

„ Kingking River – Discharges directly to

Davao Gulf. Six (6) sampling stations
registered mercury content higher that
the standard set by DAO 34 for Class C
water in 2006. Cadmium is below
critical level, but lead registered high
level over the standard in 2004 for all 6
sampling stations. Lead analysis is not
available for 2006.
Extent of heavy metals contamination in
rivers and lake (cont’d)

„ Hijo River – Mercury content of water

from 9 sampling stations exhibited
below critical level for Class C water in
2005. No sediment study conducted.
Lead content of water was very high in
sampling stations 4 to 9 in 2001 and in
6 to 9 in 2003. Below critical level from
2004 to 2005 in all sampling stations.
Extent of heavy metals contamination in
rivers and lake (cont’d)

„ Matiao River – Water from one

sampling station registered mercury
content higher that the limit set by DAO
34 in 2006. Cadmium content below the
limit, lead analysis is not available.
Extent of heavy metals contamination in
rivers and lake (cont’d)

„ Batoto River – Mercury content of water

from 6 sampling stations exhibited
mercury content below the limit set by
DAO 34. No analysis for lead and
Cadmium available.
Extent of heavy metals contamination in
rivers and lake (cont’d)

„ Masara River – Water monitoring

reports cover only lead and cadmium.
Cadmium content was below the limit
set by DAO 34. Lead content of water
from 7 stations in 2005 gave an
unambiguous result, i.e. they could be
higher or lower than the limit set by
DAO 34.
Extent of heavy metals contamination in
rivers and lake (cont’d)

„ Manat River – the 2005 available report

showed that cadmium, lead and
mercury content of water from 6
sampling stations were all below the
limits set by DAO 34.
Extent of heavy metals contamination in
rivers and lake (cont’d)

„ Lake Leonard – water samples from 12

stations revealed the following: Hg
below critical level; Pb beyond critical
level in 2001, and Cd beyond critical
level for stations 3, 5, 7 and 10. Soil
samples registered Pb content beyond
tolerable level in all stations; Cd in
stations 7, 8, 9, 10 and 12.
Extent of heavy metals contamination in
rivers and lake (cont’d)

„ Lake Leonard (cont’d) – an analysis of

fish captured in the lake in 2001
showed lead, cadmium and copper
contents higher than the critical
tolerable limits (standard used was EU
guidelines for fish).
Mercury in Davao Coastal Waters

The 1982 study:

Mercury content of coastal waters from
Godo and Guinoo were highest during
the Month of June. Tibungco coastal
water has the highest mercury content
in the Month of July.
Mercury in Davao Coastal Waters
(cont’d.)

„ The 1982 study (cont’d)

Mercury levels in Fish – found mercury
levels in Tangigue; Barilis; Tulingan;
and Diwit exceeded the 0.500 ppm limit
set by WHO.
Mercury in Davao Coastal Waters
(cont’d)

„ The 1982 study (cont’d):

Mercury level in Shellfish – Hg level in
shellfish caught in Tibungko (Anadara
cepoides; Gafrarium tumidium;
Terebralia sp.; Turbo sp.; Nerita sp.)
have mercury content higher than the
limit set by WHO.
Mercury in Davao Coastal Waters
(cont’d.)

„ Mercury levels in shellfish (cont’d) –

shellfish (Tivela sp.) caught at Bucana,
and shellfish (Haliotis sp.) caught at
Godo registered mercury content higher
than the limit set by WHO.
Mercury in Davao Coastal Waters
(cont’d.)

„ The DOH XI study (2006):

Examined fish samples from Davao del
Sur, Davao Oriental and Davao City
markets and found out that “talakitok;
“mayamaya”, “bariles” and “malasugue”
have methyl mercury content higher
than the allowable limit of 0.3 micro
gram per gram.
Mercury Levels in Human Population

„ The Maramba and Dablo 1996 study:

Examined 114 school children with ages
ranging from 5 to 15 years all residents
of Apokon, Tagum City. Results showed
24 school children with elevated Hg
blood levels more than 10 ppb, and 13
school children with urinary Hg levels
more than 5 ppb.
Mercury Levels in Human Population
(cont’d)

„ The Maramba-Dablo study (cont’d):

Examined 70 miners, field health
personnel and residents in Diwalwal,
results of laboratory analysis showed 6
respondents with blood mercury levels
greater than 20 ppb, and 3 respondents
with urinary mercury levels greater than
50 ppb.
Mercury Levels in Human Population
(cont’d)
„ The DOH XI study (2006)
Total blood mercury level ranges from 3.51
to 299.99 micro gram per liter with an
average of 21.44 micro gram per liter.
Forty-five individuals or 60% of those
individuals directly involved in gold mining
were found to have high levels of mercury
at more than 15 ug/L while three individuals
or 12% of those with no direct exposure
were also found to have high levels of
mercury at more than 15 ug/L.
Mercury in Pregnant Women

„ The Ramirez, et al studies (2000,

2003): The study was conducted at
Apokon, Tagum City. Observed that
“the problem of exposure to Hg in this
area is particularly serious for the
pregnant women because there are no
barriers to the transfer of Hg from the
mother to the fetus”
Mercury in Pregnant Women (cont’d)
„ The Ramirez, et al study (2000, 2003)
(cont’d): The study showed: “The
prevalence of Hg in the fetal
compartments was higher than in the
maternal fluid compartments. Hg was
present in 6.4% of maternal blood and
6.4% of breast milk, as compared with
16.7% of cord blood, 31.6% of infants'
hair, and 46.1% of meconium.”
Mercury in Pregnant Women (cont’d)
„ The Ramirez, et al study (2000, 2003)
(cont’d): Regression analysis showed Hg
levels in meconium to be correlated with
prevalence of Hg in infants' hair, length of
stay in Tagum, and meconium-stained
amniotic fluid. Fisher's Exact probability test
showed that the prevalence of Hg in
meconium was significantly related to the
prevalence of Hg in the mothers' blood and
length of stay in Tagum:
Mercury in Pregnant Women (cont’d)
„ The Ramirez, et al study (2000, 2003)
(cont’d): “The prevalence of Hg in cord blood
was significantly related to the prevalence in
the mothers' blood. Regression analysis of
levels of Hg in cord blood showed a
significant relation to levels in mothers' blood
(.0001), prevalence in infants' hair (.0126),
gestational age (GA) (.0091), and head
circumference (HC) (.0469)”
Mercury in Pregnant Women (cont’d)

„ The Ramirez, et al study (2000, 2003)

(cont’d): The 2000 study concluded that
“Adverse effects may not be evident at
birth but sub-clinical toxicity of the fetus
is a possibility. Therefore, long-term
developmental and neurobehavioral
assessments are needed”
Mercury in Pregnant Women
(cont’d)
„ The Ramirez, et al follow-up 2003
study:
The study used 47 of the original
infants from Tagum and 88 infants of
the same age from Sarangani as
control. The tests used are: cognitive
adaptive test and clinical linguistic
auditory milestone scale (CAT/CLAMS)
Mercury in Pregnant Women
(cont’d)
„ The Ramirez, et al follow-up 2003 study
(cont’d): The following were found higher in
the control group compared to Tagum infants
(a) expressive language quotient; (b) CLAMS,
and (c) Full-scale developmental quotient.
Fifteen percent of Tagum infants had global
delay (full-scale developmental quotient).
Mercury in Pregnant Women
(cont’d)
„ The Ramirez, et al follow-up 2003 study
(cont’d): The study concluded that “that
prenatal Hg exposure is correlated with
lower scores in neuro-developmental
screening, but more so in the linguistic
pathway. Other confounding factors
cannot be eliminated”.
Recommendations
„ Strict control should be imposed on
the use of mercury and other heavy
metals in the region. This include
registration of users, the monitoring of
amount of heavy metals used per day
by establishments, approved
safeguards and control/management
and disposal of mine tailings or
effluents.
Recommendations (cont’d)

„ Eradication of illegal trade of mercury

in the region. Mercury could only be
used by licensed users with the
government imposing strict
compliance with environmental laws
concerning the use of mercury.
Recommendations (cont’d)
„ The use of mercury in gold processing is
prevalent only with small scale miners or
artisanal miners. If the government will opt
therefore to maintain the operation of small
scale or artisanal mining, it should impose a
condition that small scale or artisanal
miners should use an alternative gold
extraction technology that does not involve
mercury.
Recommendations (cont’d)
„ The presence of high mercury level in the rivers of
Compostela Valley province needs immediate
attention, not only in controlling or completely
stopping the use of mercury in the mining areas of
the province, but also to determine the extent of
the damage suffered by the environment and the
affected population. Accordingly, appropriate
remediation process should be undertaken by the
government including the compensation of the
population whose health have been compromised
or affected by mercury contamination.
Recommendations (cont’d)
„ Government action on the presence of high levels
of mercury in certain species of fish caught in
Davao Gulf is long overdue. This inaction of the
government may have very serious health
implications because those fishes with high level of
mercury are eaten by a large portion of the Davao
Region population. It is therefore recommended
that the government immediately warn the public
about the danger of eating Tangigue, Barilis,
Tulingan, Diwit, Talakitok, Mayamaya, and
Malasugui.
Recommendations (cont’d)
„ A study which compared two year infants whose
mothers were exposed to mercury in Tagum City
with that of a control group showed that prenatal
mercury exposure is correlated with lower scores in
neuro-developmental screening, but more so in the
linguistic pathway. This study has serious
implications on the future human resource
capabilities of the region. It is recommended that
an expanded study should be conducted to include,
among others, the incidence of autism which is
related to mercury poisoning in other countries.
Recommendations (cont’d)
„ The studies conducted so far on heavy
metals contamination in the region do not
include sediment analysis, heavy metals in
aquifers, and presence of heavy metals in
plants and fresh water fish and farm
animals. This situation should be
immediately remedied in order to map out
the short and long-term response of the
government to heavy metals pollution in the
region.
Recommendations (cont’d)
„ It has been observed that the population at large is
inadequately informed on the dangers of heavy
metals pollution and in particular the effect of
mercury on the health status of a person. It is
therefore recommended that a broad-based
intensive information, education and
communication program be formulated and
implemented by the local government units and
national government agencies, the academe and
non-government organizations in the region.
Recommendations (cont’d)
„ The government should impose a condition that
polluters should pay for the damage they have
incurred on the environment and on human
population. In view of the possibility of large scale
health degradation of human population exposed to
mercury pollution in the region, the government
should also seriously consider imposing an
appropriate pollution tax to miners and gold
processors to pay for those whose health have been
impaired and for the economic cost of polluting the
sea and water system of the region
Recommendations (cont’d)
„ An expanded study should be conducted on
heavy metals contamination of fish and
shellfish in the Davao Gulf and in freshwater
fish in rivers and lakes of the region. This
study will validate and update the past
studies and provide policy makers the
current status and extent of heavy metals
contamination in the food chain.
Recommendations (cont’d)

„ Include heavy metals as priority

parameter in calculating wastewater
discharge fee.
END OF PRESENTATION

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