Community-based research on the environmental and human health impacts of a laterite nickel mine and smelter in Sorowako, Indonesia
Bibliographic record
Abstract
Community-based research between Memorial University of Newfoundland and the Indigenous Sorowako Association (KW AS) assessed the environmental and potential human health impacts of an operational three-decades old laterite nickel mine and smelter in Sorowako, Indonesia. An active air sampler and health questionnaire were used in this study to assess seasonal and diurnal patterns of air quality and prevalent health conditions. Air was sampled with the use of a high volume air sampler to determine average total suspended particulates (TSP) and airborne metal concentrations. Twelve-hour air samples were collected over approximately five days and five nights during both the dry and rainy seasons in six communities. The six communities were located at different distances and directions from the nickel mines and smelter. Air samples were also collected at a reference site located further away from the smelter during the rainy season only. The composition of various metals was analysed by Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS). Twenty-four hour dust fall accumulation in approximately 20 households in the seven communities previously mentioned, as well as in 20 homes located on Lake Matano were recorded with an area standardized Kim wipe swipe. Communities closer to and downwind from the smelter had significantly higher mean TSP values in the day of the dry season than communities further away from the smelter. Average concentrations of nickel, cobalt and chromium were higher in the day than in the night in the dry season in communities closer to and downwind from the smelter. There was only a slight significant regression of airborne nickel concentration with increasing distance from the smelter in the day of the dry season (Linear r²= 0.276, p=0.006, Linear r²= 0.066, p=0.207) but not in the night of the dry season. Dust fall accumulation did not vary significantly among the communities, except in Kampung Baru, a site also exposed to sawmill dust. A confidential health questionnaire administered by community volunteers assessed potential links between prevalent health conditions and mining and smelting in the area. Twenty households were selected in a convenience sampling in the eight communities where dust fall accumulation was also studied. Adult and child versions of the questionnaire focused on respiratory and skin health conditions but also surveyed prevalence of other illnesses, and health determinants. Questionnaire responses showed that some health conditions typical of exposure to airborne particulates and nickel, such as asthma, rhinitis, and skin tumours, were more prevalent in areas closer to and downwind from nickel mining and smelting compared to Malili, a community located further away from the mines and smelter. Several positive correlations between ambient air pollution levels, dust fall accumulation in households, and health conditions typically found in nickel industrial areas suggested a potential human health impact of mining and smelting. The community-based investigation provided a foundation for the community to continually monitor, assess, and address environmental and health concerns.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.001 | 0.000 |
| Open science | 0.000 | 0.001 |
| Research integrity | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.001 | 0.000 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".