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Distribution of heavy elements in urban and rural surface soils: the Novi Sad city and the surrounding settlements, Serbia

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Abstract

Concentrations of ten heavy elements (Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn), as well as the pH values, organic matter contents, and electrical conductivities were measured in the surface soil samples collected from 21 sites of urban areas in the city of Novi Sad, the second largest city in Serbia, its suburban settlement and the nearby villages. Range of the heavy element concentrations was from 0.16 mg/kg (for Hg) to 18,994 mg/kg (for Fe). Significantly higher Hg and Mn concentrations were observed in subgroups with rural and market garden samples in comparison to the subgroups with urban and grassland samples, respectively, while the contents of Pb found in the grasslands subgroup were significantly higher than in the subgroup with market garden soils. Only one sample of urban soil exceeded the maximum permissible value for Zn set by the relevant Serbian legislation. According to the Dutch soil quality standard, the Cd and Co concentrations in majority of the examined soils were higher than the target values for unpolluted soil. The content of Hg was above the target value in 52% of the samples, most of them belonging to the subgroup of market garden soils. The results for the Novi Sad city area were compared to the relevant data available for other cities in the Western Balkan Countries. Principal component analysis of data revealed seven outlying samples, while the rest of the analyzed samples were grouped together indicating similar heavy element patterns most probably due to mixed emission sources.

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Notes

  1. MΩcm (Mega ohm centimeter)

  2. mS/m (milli Siemens per meter)

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Serbian Ministry of Education and Science as a part of the Project 172050: Development and application of the advanced chromatographic and separation methods in the analysis of xenobiotics and their degradation pathways in biotic and abiotic matrices, coordinated by prof. B. Škrbić.

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  1. University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Technology, Bulevar cara Lazara 1, 21000, Novi Sad, Serbia

    Biljana Škrbić & Nataša Đurišić-Mladenović

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  1. Biljana Škrbić
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  2. Nataša Đurišić-Mladenović
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Correspondence to Biljana Škrbić.

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Škrbić, B., Đurišić-Mladenović, N. Distribution of heavy elements in urban and rural surface soils: the Novi Sad city and the surrounding settlements, Serbia. Environ Monit Assess 185, 457–471 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-012-2567-3

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