Is Kragujevac city still a "hot spot" area, twenty years after the bombing?

Biljana Milenkovic; Jelena M Stajic; Tijana Zeremski; Snezana Strbac; Natasa Stojic; Dragoslav Nikezic

doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2019.125610

Is Kragujevac city still a "hot spot" area, twenty years after the bombing?

Chemosphere. 2020 Apr:245:125610. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2019.125610. Epub 2019 Dec 12.

Authors

Biljana Milenkovic¹, Jelena M Stajic², Tijana Zeremski³, Snezana Strbac⁴, Natasa Stojic⁵, Dragoslav Nikezic⁶

Affiliations

¹ University of Kragujevac, Institute for Information Technologies Kragujevac, Department of Science, Jovana Cvijica bb, 34000, Kragujevac, Serbia.
² University of Kragujevac, Institute for Information Technologies Kragujevac, Department of Science, Jovana Cvijica bb, 34000, Kragujevac, Serbia. Electronic address: stajicjelena11052012@gmail.com.
³ Institute of Field & Vegetable Crops, Maksima Gorkog 30, 21000, Novi Sad, Serbia.
⁴ University of Belgrade, Institute of Chemistry, Technology and Metallurgy, Centre of Chemistry, Studentski Trg 12-16, 11000, Belgrade, Serbia.
⁵ University Educons, Faculty for Environmental Protection, Vojvode Putnika bb, Sremska Kamenica, 21208, Serbia.
⁶ University of Kragujevac, Faculty of Science, Radoja Domanovica 12, 34000, Kragujevac, Serbia; The State University of Novi Pazar, Vuka Karadzica bb, 36300, Novi Pazar, Serbia.

PMID: 31864048
DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2019.125610

Abstract

After NATO bombing of Serbia in 1999, UNEP has identified Kragujevac as one of the four heavily polluted environmental "hot spots". Damaging of industrial and military targets caused the release of substantial amounts of hazardous chemical substances into the environment. This study was conducted in order to access the exposure of residents of Kragujevac city to persistent soil pollutants, twenty years after NATO air campaign. The paper reports the results of measuring radionuclides, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and heavy metals (As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb, Zn, and Hg) in soil samples collected from two depths (0-15 cm and 15-30 cm) at 30 locations along the riverbank of the Lepenica River. The average specific activities of ²²⁶Ra, ²³²Th, ⁴⁰K and ¹³⁷Cs were comparable to average worldwide values; excess lifetime cancer risk (ELCR) from natural radionuclides ranged from 1.1·10^-4 to 3.3·10^-4. The measured concentrations of As, Co, Cr, Cu, and Ni exceeded the limit values in most of the samples. Non-carcinogenic risk (hazard quotient and hazard index) and carcinogenic risk from heavy metals were assessed. Total hazard index was 0.257 and 2.16 for adults and children, respectively. Sum of measured PAHs ranged from 110 to 1026 μg kg^-1. Sum of PCBs exceeded the limit value of 20 μg kg^-1 in all samples (it ranged from 48.8 to 196.8 μg kg^-1), but it was still below the remediation level. The differences between two layers with respect to all measured variables were not statistically significant.

Keywords: Heavy metals; PAHs; PCBs; Radioactivity; Soil.

MeSH terms

Adult
Bombs*
Child
Cities
Environmental Pollution / analysis*
Humans
Metals, Heavy* / analysis
Polychlorinated Biphenyls / analysis*
Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons / analysis*
Radioisotopes / analysis*
Risk Assessment*
Rivers
Serbia

Substances

Metals, Heavy
Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons
Radioisotopes
Polychlorinated Biphenyls