The Korbevačka River is located in the southeastern part of Serbia. This river is a main recipient of all kinds of pollutants from the Pb−Zn mine "Grot." Sediments from the Korbevačka River were studied to determine the distribution of the metals along the river, assess the quality of sediment, and find the degree of contamination. The concentration of iron, manganese, nickel, copper, zinc, cadmium, lead, mercury, arsenic, chromium, and barium were determined. River sediments were collected and analyzed for heavy metal concentration using atomic absorption spectrophotometer.
The degree of pollution in the sediments of the Korbevačka River has been evaluated based on Canadian sediment quality guidelines, enrichment factor (EF), geo-accumulation index (I geo ) and pollution load index (PLI). Inter-metal associations have been evaluated by Pearson correlation coefficients (r). The results indicated that: (1) sediments have been polluted with Pb, Cd, Zn, and Cu and have high anthropogenic influences;(2) the calculation of geo-accumulation index suggests that the Korbevačka River sediments have background concentrations of Fe, Cr, and Ni (I geo < 1); (3) the co-precipitation (inclusion, occlusion, and adsorption) of heavy metals (except As and Ba) with Mn and Fe geochemical phases.
Anthropogenic activities like mining, the disposal of treated/untreated waste effluents containing toxic metals, and metal chelates from different industries and the indiscriminate use of heavy metals containing fertilizers and pesticides in agriculture deteriorate water quality by rendering serious environmental problems posing a threat to human health [1, 2] and aquatic biodiversity [3, 4].
In the last 50 years Serbia has experienced a number of great changes in all fields of social life. Periods of development and periods of great economical, political and social crisis interchanged. All those changes affected everyday life of our households which also had their own ups and downs. Under the influence of numerous improving, but also destabilizing factors, households have gradually changed their structure and population dimension in above mentioned time period. However, changes did not have equal effect in all regions of Serbia. Uneven tempo of social-economic development, diverse cultural and historical past, as well as demographic transition rate, affected great regional differences in average size of Serbian households. Average size of household in Central Serbia and Vojvodina, according to population dimension, resemble to average European household (about 3 members). On the other hand, households at Kosovo and Metohija, with over then six members average, are the largest in Europe
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