Pollution by Urticaceae pollen-influence of selected air pollutants and meteorological parameters.

The goal of this study was to analyze the influence of pollutants (concentrations of NO2, SO2, and soot in the air) and meteorological parameters (air temperature, humidity, wind speed, air pressure, cloud index) on Urticaceae pollen type emission measured in the region of Subotica, Serbia. The concentrations of the air pollutants, Urticaceae pollen, and meteorological parameters were measured over a 5-year period (2009-2013), followed by a statistical analysis of the values obtained. For most of the years examined, the concentration of NO2 correlates significantly with the concentration of Urticaceae pollen type. It was also established that air temperature, humidity, wind speed, atmospheric pressure, and cloud index have an influence on Urticaceae pollen type emission, while SO2 and soot do not contribute.

Speciations of trace metals in the Danube alluvial sediments within an oil refinery.

A sequential extraction procedure was applied to identify forms of Ni, Zn, Pb and Cu with Fe- and Mn-oxides associated in alluvial sediments of the River Danube within Pancevo Oil Refinery (Serbia). The five steps of the sequential extraction procedure partitioned metals into: CH(3)COONH(4) extractable (S1); NH(2)OH.HCl carbonate extractable and easily reducible (S2); (NH(4))(2)C(2)O(2)/H(2)C(2)O(2) moderately reducible (S3); H(2)O(2)-HNO(3) organic extractable (S4); and HCl acid soluble residue (S5). Extracted concentrations of trace metals, analyzed after all five steps, were found to be (mg kg(-1)) for Mn: 656, Fe: 26734, Ni: 32.3, Zn: 72.8, Pb: 13.4 and Cu: 27.0. Most of the elements were found in acid soluble residue, characterizing stable compounds in sediments. Non-residual fractions of trace metals (sum of the first four fractions) were analyzed because they are more bioavailable than the residual amount. Correlation analysis and two multivariate analysis methods (principal component and cluster analysis) were used to understand and visualize the associations between the non-residual fractions of trace metals and certain forms, more or less crystalline of Fe- and Mn-oxides within the analyzed sediments, since Fe- and Mn-oxides play an important role in trace metal sorption within aquatic systems, especially within the Danube alluvium where the fluctuations of groundwater are very frequent and the level of groundwater could come close to surface.

Determination of metal content in some herbal drugs-Empirical and chemometric approach.

The concentrations of Cu, Zn, Mn, Fe, K, Ca, Mg, Al, Ba and B in 26 herbal drugs of special importance in phytopharmacy were studied. Flame atomic absorption and emission spectrometry (FAAS, FAES), as well as inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES), were applied in this work. The whole procedure, from sample preparation, via dissolution, to measurements, was validated by using CRM (NIST 1573a-tomato leaves), and the obtained recovery values are in the range from 91 to 102%. Drug samples originated from medicinal plants cultivated in Serbia contained Cu (4.47-14.08mgkg(-1)), Zn (8.4-54.5mgkg(-1)), Mn (9-155mgkg(-1)), Fe (47-546mgkg(-1)), K (0.20-6.24%), Ca (0.18-1.84%), Mg (0.13-1.09%), Al (16-416mgkg(-1)), Ba (11.70-84.83mgkg(-1)) and B (5.1-118.7mgkg(-1)). In order to get a better insight into the elemental patterns, a common chemometric approach to data evaluation was used. Four significant factors identified by principal component analysis (PCA) were attributed partly to the significant influential sources and high mobility of some elements thus referring to potential anthropogenic contamination as well.