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Assessment of Heavy Metal Contamination and Calculation of Its Pollution Index for Uglješnica River, Serbia

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Abstract

The aim of the study was to assess the water pollution in terms of total content of heavy metals by parameter called Heavy metal pollution index (HPI). The water samples were collected from four different locations along the course of the river during spring and the autumn seasons. The concentrations of lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), iron (Fe), zinc (Zn), manganese (Mn), copper (Cu), arsenic (As) and mercury (Hg) were determined using atomic absorption spectroscopy. The data were used to evaluate HPI of the river water. The mean value of HPI was 67.487 for the spring season, and 80.676 for the autumn season. The average for both seasons and all sampling sites is 74.082. The maximum value of 112.722 found at one sampling site is above the critical index limit of 100. Also, from the values of mean HPI for each sampling site could be concluded that the pollution load at sampling site-4 is the most significant (HPI 89.575).

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Serbia [Grants 31054, 172016 and 171021].

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Small Grains of Kragujevac, Save Kovačevića 31, 34000, Kragujevac, Serbia

    Jelena Milivojević & Vera Djekić

  2. Faculty of Science, University of Kragujevac, Radoja Domanovića 12, 34000, Kragujevac, Serbia

    Dragana Krstić & Biljana Šmit

Authors
  1. Jelena Milivojević
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  2. Dragana Krstić
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  3. Biljana Šmit
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  4. Vera Djekić
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Correspondence to Dragana Krstić.

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Milivojević, J., Krstić, D., Šmit, B. et al. Assessment of Heavy Metal Contamination and Calculation of Its Pollution Index for Uglješnica River, Serbia. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 97, 737–742 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-016-1918-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-016-1918-0

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