CEBU, Philippines - A chemist advised the Cebu City Council yesterday to strictly prohibit the entry of animals and unauthorized persons at the Inayawan sanitary landfill because of high level of mercury contamination.
The alarm was raised after it was learned that plants growing at the landfill have high mercury content and animals like goats are seen grazing there.
Patrick John Lim, a chemist and professor at the University of San Carlos department of chemistry, briefed the council based on their survey on the presence of mercury and lead at the landfill, which is 0.2 parts per million (ppm) or 10 times higher than that found in the earth’s crust at 0.02 to 0.06 ppm.
“We believe that there is a high percentage of (mercury) contamination at the landfill; so it’s not really safe,†Lim said during a public hearing yesterday.
The public hearing was in line with the request of City Councilor Nida Cabrera, who proposed an ordinance asking Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama to “fast track the process of formulating the closure plan of the Inayawan sanitary landfill and the corresponding calendar of activitiesâ€.
The landfill was opened in 1998 and was closed last year due to various health-related factors. Lim said 66 percent of mercury in household products that is actually thrown form as waste every year. They pose hazard not only to the ecosystem but also to animal and plant life, especially those living near the area.
“The projection is that Cebu City uses 450 pounds of wastes a day and 1.07 ppm (of mercury). Cebu city produces 37 kg of mercury per year. It is something that can be recovered and stored safely by not throwing it indiscriminately and through (authorities) enforcing (proper) management,†Lim said.
He said only 37.6 percent of the population is aware and knowledgeable of the hazards of mercury and the products containing the metal. Lim emphasized proper education for these people.
He said they found three species of plants in the landfill which accumulated more mercury than the soil.
“Plants (at the landfill) contain higher milligrams of mercury than soil. These are basically grasses which contain more mercury with regards to concentration factors,†Lim said, adding that among all locations, the water has the lowest accumulation of mercury.
This was also confirmed by Dr. Patricia Nazareno of the University of Cebu, who said there are 37 plants at the landfill that contain the metal. “What’s alarming, we found goats, cows in the eating these plants. Some uses it for medicinal purposes and that’s really dangerous†Nazareno said.
Also, Lim said that apart from their landfill survey, they also conducted another with the city’s 80 barangays, 57 of which responded.
Of the 57, Barangays Bacayan, Quiot, and Mabolo were the ones with a high level of mercury based on the content of the residents’ household materials. — (FREEMAN)