Investigation of dermal exposure to heavy metals (Cu, Zn, Ni, Al, Fe and Pb) in traditional batik industry workers

Katharina Oginawati; Suharyanto; Septian Hadi Susetyo; Gintang Sulung; Muhayatun; Nurul Chazanah; Siska Widya Dewi Kusumah; Nurul Fahimah

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e08914

Investigation of dermal exposure to heavy metals (Cu, Zn, Ni, Al, Fe and Pb) in traditional batik industry workers

Heliyon. 2022 Feb 9;8(2):e08914. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e08914. eCollection 2022 Feb.

Authors

Katharina Oginawati¹, Suharyanto¹, Septian Hadi Susetyo¹, Gintang Sulung¹, Muhayatun², Nurul Chazanah¹, Siska Widya Dewi Kusumah¹, Nurul Fahimah¹

Affiliations

¹ Study Program of Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Indonesia.
² National Nuclear Energy Agency of Indonesia, Indonesia.

Abstract

Batik is an Indonesian cultural heritage that has been designated by UNESCO. Batik industry is one of the industries that applies the synthetic dyes, beside natural ones which have long been used in producing Batik particularly in the modern production. The purpose of this research investigated heavy metals on workers in batik industry, which focuses on dermal detection as portal of entry. Samples of dermal intake of workers were examined with cross-sectional approach, while non-worker samples of resident living surrounding the industry were used as control. Dermal intake on workers and non-workers were examined using Patch Filter. Heavy metals content of the synthetic dyes used in the batik production and those in the patch filter which was attached to worker's skin during sampling period were analyzed using X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) method. The XRF measurement result of the synthetic dyes shows a detection of several heavy metals including Cu and Zn as the highest detected concentration, while the XRF measurement of the patch filter detects several heavy metal contents, which include Cu, Zn, Ni, Al, Fe and Pb. The highest detected heavy metal concentration found in the patch filter were Cu, Zn and Ni. Meanwhile, the highest detected heavy metal concentration of Pb was found in workers in the stamping process. The result indicates that highest Hazard Quotient (HQ) values for Cu, Zn, Mn, and Fe were found in workers of dyeing process compared to those in other processing stages.

Keywords: Batik industry; Dermal exposure; Hazard index; Hazard quotient; Heavy metals; Occupational health.