Impact of old environmental burden in the Spiš region (Slovakia) on soil and home-grown vegetable contamination, and health effects of heavy metals

Musilová, Janette; Franková, Hana; Lidiková, Judita; Chlpík, Juraj; Vollmannová, Alena; Árvay, Július; Harangozo, Ľuboš; Urminská, Jana; Tóth, Tomáš

doi:10.1038/s41598-022-20847-8

Cited by 7 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 57 publications

(76 reference statements)

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“…Svoboda et al ( 2000 ) has done research comparing the Spiš region with six other areas and reports a problem with persistent pollution despite the fact that factories have been closed since 1990 (Svoboda et al 2000 ). Musilova et al ( 2016 ), whose study also focused on mercury levels in the Spiš region, confirmed these persistently elevated Hg values (Musilová et al 2022 ). Heavy metal pollution does not appear only in places where long-lasting mining and metallurgy industry is located, but also in remote areas of mountains (Fig.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 79%

Mercury in the feathers of Golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) from Western Carpathian, Slovakia

Sabadková,

Janiga,

Korňan

et al. 2024

Environ Sci Pollut Res

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In this study, mercury (Hg) concentrations were detected in feathers of golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos), a bird that typically inhabits alpine and forest areas. The mercury rates in feathers were compared in two groups of eagles: first, estimated home range (breeding, hunting, etc.) was located only in forest and lowland meadow habitats; second, the home range also included alpine habitats—rocks and meadows. Consequently, mercury concentration based on the feather typology were observed and the mercury levels in feathers were also compared among different Slovak Western Carpathian districts. It was found that there was no significant difference between groups classified by elevation level, which we attribute to the fact that eagle hunting territories are broad, so that alpine-dwelling and forest-dwelling eagles do not only reflect the pollution of the environments they typically inhabit. Non-significant differences were found also within different feather types, which means that the type of feather is not crucial for tracking mercury in eagle feathers. As the measurement of feather appears to be a simple and non-invasive method, the detection of non-significant differences in diverse types of golden eagle feathers provides useful knowledge for the future environment monitoring. The average mercury concentration measured in eagle samples was lower than the mercury concentration causing health complications among birds of prey. Our assumption that due to past mining activity in the Spiš region, the highest concentration in this region would be observed was confirmed.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 79%

Mercury in the feathers of Golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) from Western Carpathian, Slovakia

Sabadková,

Janiga,

Korňan

et al. 2024

Environ Sci Pollut Res

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“…Other authors also reported high levels of heavy metals in various vegetables and crops grown in the mining areas. Musilová et al (2021Musilová et al ( , 2022 reported elevated heavy metal levels in the soils of the Middle Spiš and Gemer region (Slovakia), which has a degraded environment due to centuries of mining activities. This is reflected in their accumulated home-grown vegetables, especially potatoes, in the Middle Spiš region.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Heavy metals content and health risk assessment of selected leafy plants consumed in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Pazalja¹,

Sulejmanović²,

Bеgić³

et al. 2023

PLANT SOIL ENVIRON

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Leafy plants and vegetables, which are grown and consumed on almost every continent, are vital to the human diet. It is well known that these plants mainly provide trace elements, vitamins, minerals, and fibres (Mateos-Maces et al. 2020, Sarkar et al. 2022. In addition to the nutritional benefits of leafy plants, most of them accumulate higher amounts of heavy metals because they absorb metals in their edible parts (Saleem et al. 2020).Heavy metal accumulation in plants depends on soil and metal types, soil conditions, plant species, growth stages, weather, and environmental factors (Zhang et al. 2020). Leafy plants grown in contaminated soils have a greater chance of accumulating heavy metals than plants grown in uncontaminated soil (Proshad et al. 2020). Anthropogenic activities such as industrial processing and mining are the primary causes of environmental heavy metal pollution. Furthermore, the widespread use of agrochemicals such as metal-based pesticides and fertilisers contributes significantly to the contamination of various plants and vegetables (Briffa et al. 2020, Aloud et al. 2022. Therefore, several studies are directed toward examining heavy metals in leafy plants and their impact on human health. According to numerous toxicological studies, daily consumption of heavy metal-polluted leafy plants can have an adverse effect on the food chain and may have a negative impact on human health, including anaemia, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, metabolic problems, psychological disor-

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“…The high value of BAF for Cd in our results was associated with a high portion of water-soluble Cd in contrast with other tested elements. Cadmium has high soil bioavailability compared to Pb and other toxic elements [ 37 ]. Interaction between Cd and Zn has a significant effect on Cd bioavailability for plants [ 38 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Health Risk and Quality Assessment of Vegetables Cultivated on Soils from a Heavily Polluted Old Mining Area

Pavlı́ková

Zemanová

Pavlı́k

2023

Toxics

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Three garden vegetables—radish, carrot and lettuce—were cultivated in a pot experiment using two soils from the Příbram area polluted mainly by cadmium (Cd), zinc (Zn), lead (Pb) and chromium (Cr). The soils of the Příbram district, Czech Republic, are heavily polluted as a result of the atmospheric deposition of toxic elements originating from historic lead–silver mining and smelting activities. The results showed that lettuce absorbed the highest amounts of toxic elements (Cd 28 and 30, Cr 12 and 13, Zn 92 and 205 mg·kg−1 DW), except Pb, which was higher in radish (30 and 49 mg·kg−1 DW). Changes in macronutrient contents in edible parts were not found, except for sulfur. A higher total free amino acids (fAAs) accumulation was shown in all vegetables in more contaminated soil, with the highest fAA content being in radish. A group of essential fAAs reached 7–24% of total fAAs in vegetables. The risk to human health was characterized using the target hazard quotient and total hazard index (HI). The cumulative effect of the consumption of vegetables with HI > 1 showed possible non-carcinogenic health effects for lettuce and carrot. HI decreased in the order Cd > Pb > Cr > Zn. The carcinogenic risk of toxic elements decreased in the order Cd > Cr > Pb (0.00054, 0.00026, 0.00003). These values showed a carcinogenic risk from the consumption of lettuce and carrot and confirmed that the adult population of the studied area is at high risk if lettuce and carrot cultivated in this area are consumed daily.

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Impact of old environmental burden in the Spiš region (Slovakia) on soil and home-grown vegetable contamination, and health effects of heavy metals

Cited by 7 publications

References 57 publications

Mercury in the feathers of Golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) from Western Carpathian, Slovakia

Mercury in the feathers of Golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) from Western Carpathian, Slovakia

Heavy metals content and health risk assessment of selected leafy plants consumed in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Health Risk and Quality Assessment of Vegetables Cultivated on Soils from a Heavily Polluted Old Mining Area

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