HEAVY METAL CHARACTERISTICS OF WASTEWATER FROM BATIK INDUSTRY IN YOGYAKARTA AREA, INDONESIA

Abstract

Batik is Indonesian traditional textile product. The increasing use of synthetic dyes in batik
production raises concern on heavy metal content in its wastewater. As wastewater from most factories is
released to the environment without proper treatment, the pollutants including heavy metal content would pose
health risks to humans and the environment. However, data on heavy metal characteristics of wastewater from
batik industry in Indonesia is very limited. This paper presents the profile of heavy metal characteristic of 17
(seventeen) wastewater samples from batik factories in Yogyakarta Area, Indonesia. The total concentration
of some heavy metals elements were measured by using inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrophotometry
(ICP-MS). The result was compared to other studies and relevant local and international effluent standards.
Hierarchical Cluster Analysis (HCA) was then performed to observe group of samples or parameters with
similar characteristics that represent similar production method which affects their wastewater characteristics.
The results showed that concentration of Cr, Co, Ni, Cu, As, Cd, and Pb ranged from 9.87 to 101 ppb, 0.03 to
3.89 ppb, 5.37 to 82.8 ppb, 19.7 to 472 ppb, 1.46 to 21.2 ppb, 0.03 to 20.3 ppb and 0.78 to 40.1 ppb respectively.
In general, concentration of heavy metal in this study does not exceed regulation and also lower than result of
other studies. HCA result confirmed that the source of Ni, Cr and Cu is from dye. HCA also indicated that
other factors may affect the heavy metal concentration in batik wastewater which demands further study.