MERCURY ASSESMENT OF

MUNTINGIA CALABURA TREE

RING SEQUENCES INSIDE
AND OUTSIDE THE CEBU CITY
SANITARY LANDFILL
Sim, Robert Martin
Hg contamination
due to various hazardous health effects
Minamata Japan in 1950s
Naboc area in Mindanao: contamination on
the paddy fields
Sibutad, Wester Mindanao: high Hg
concentration on ambient air
reconstruction of heavy metal
contamination history
used by several studies to rebuild past
heavy metal contamination episodes
Tree Ring Analysis
Cebu City Sanitary Landfill
operated for over 15 years and receives 350400 tons of
wastes every day
Was studied by Nazareno et al. (2011)
Tridax procumbens
Hg found in stems
Muntingia calabura
Hg found in roots and in stems
Hg levels outside the landfill is not known
chronology of Hg contamination in the landfill
is also not known
Statement of the Problem
To assess Hg level in the tree ring sequences of
Muntingia calabura present within and outside
the Cebu City Sanitary Landfill
Specifically:
determine the mercury content present in Muntingia calabura tree
ring sequences;
reconstruct the Hg contamination history of the Cebu City Sanitary
Landfill; and
determine spatial variations of the mercury levels based on the tree
ring sequence data from within the Cebu City Sanitary Landfill and
its vicinity.
Significance
Chronological record of Hg levels
Idea on mercury level close living residents
are exposed to
Government policies on how close settlements
should be from landfills
Scope and Limitation
Quantification of mercury in the tree ring
sequences of Muntingia calabura gathered
inside the landfill and its vicinity
Using the method described by Becnel et al.
(2004)
Sample Collection and
Preparation
Cored trees will come from the landfill, three sites
with varying distances from the landfill and from
University of San Carlos Talamban Campus
Tree ring sequences gathered will be placed in
labeled Zip-loc

polyethylene sample bags for

transportation.
Tree Ring Sequence Analysis
According to the study of Beramendi-Orosco et
al. (2013)
Oven
Drying
Sanding
of cores
Counting of tree
ring sequence
under a
dissecting
microscope with
20x and 30x
lenses
Mercury Level Analysis
According to the study of Becnel et al. (2004)
Grounded
0.2g sample
in 350mL
BOD bottle
Addition of
10mL DI H
2
O

Heat in water
bath for 2 h at
95C

Addition of 15
mL 5% w/v
potassium
permanganat
e
Cool
Addition of
50mL DI H2O

Addition of
5mL Aqua
Regia
Addition of
6mL 10% w/v
hydroxylamin
e
hydrochloride
Addition of
50mL DI H
2
O
Addition of
5mL
stannous
chloride
Spatial Variation
Determined using Analysis of Variance
(ANOVA) with Levenes Test for homogeneity
of variances.
Gantt Chart
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Fabrication of Increment Borer
Collection of Samples
Tree Ring Sequence Analysis
Mercury Level Analysis
Computations
Legend:
0 = June
1 = July
2 = August
3 = September
4 = October
5 = November
6 = December
7 = January
8 = February

Proposed Budget
Chemicals Amount to be Used Price (Pesos)
Nitric acid 43.75 milliliters 42
Hydrochloric acid 101.25 milliliters 39.69
Potassium permanganate 20 grams 106
Hydroxylamine hydrochloride 17 grams 40.8
Stannous chloride 15 grams 55.2
Mercuric chloride 1 gram 4.34
Deionized water 5 liters 200
TOTAL 488.03