Medica Jadertina, Vol. 47 No. 1-2, 2017.
Preliminary communication
Cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. Capitata) as one of the indicators of possible environmental pollution by metals and metalloids in Eastern Croatia
Dragana Jurić
orcid.org/0000-0002-7656-3286
; Zavod za javno zdravstvo Brodsko-posavske županije, Slavonski Brod
Dinko Puntarić
orcid.org/0000-0001-9776-5533
; Hrvatsko katoličko sveučilište, Zagreb
Domagoj Vidosavljević
orcid.org/0000-0002-0621-5403
; Sveučilište Josipa Jurja Strossmayera u Osijeku, Medicinski fakultet
Zdenko Lončarić
orcid.org/0000-0003-4927-3969
; Sveučilište Josipa Jurja Strossmayera u Osijeku, Poljoprivredni fakultet
Ada Puntarić
orcid.org/0000-0002-9521-8613
; Prehrambeno-biotehnološki fakultet Zagreb
Eda Puntarić
orcid.org/0000-0003-0467-219X
; Hrvatska agencija za zaštitu okoliša i prirode, Zagreb
Ida Puntarić
orcid.org/0000-0003-3365-4740
; Dom zdravlja Zagrebačke županije, Samobor
Siniša Šijanović
; Sveučilište Josipa jurja Strossmayera u Osijeku, Medicinski fakultet
Marina Vidosavljević
; Opća bolnica Vinkovci
Abstract
Purpose: Within the framework of research on metal and metalloid presence, as a possible consequence of the war, the areas in Eastern Croatia where agricultural activity reestablished biomonitoring (serum, hair, urine) of the local population and environmental monitoring through samples of soil, water and edible wild plants was conducted and samples of cabbage, an indicator for heavy metals and metalloids in the environment, were collected.
Aim: The hypothesis of the study is that in areas of Eastern Croatian exposed to combat operations, such as the environment and population, the presence of increased concentrations of metals and metalloids is associated with war activities in relation to the areas that were spared from war. The goal was to determine whether there are differences in the concentrations of metals and metalloids comparing locations of high intensity combat action (HICA) with locations of low intensity combat action (LICA). Besides this, the attempt was to determine the possible interconnection of contamination with metals in the soil and in humans, and whether there was a coincidence in terms of potential "hot spots", places significantly loaded with metals.
Materials and Methods: A total of 14 sites included 14 samples of cabbage, where 12 samples from locations of high intensity combat action (HICA) and two (2) samples from locations of low intensity combat action (LICA). The concentrations of 20 metals and metalloids (Al, As, B, Ba, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Li, Mg, Ni, Pb, Sb, Si, Sr, In, V, and Zn), which are used for military purposes, were determined by inductive procedure of restrained plasma mass spectrometry ICP-MS.
Results: The concentration of metals covered by Regulations (As, Cd, Hg and Pb) were within the MRL on all locations, while in the other investigated elements there was no difference between HICA and LICA (p = 0.78; Mann-Whitney U test). The concentration of metals and metalloids in cabbage was not significantly correlated with the concentration in the soil samples, except in the case of Cd, where the negative correlation (Pearson coefficient soil /cabbage = -0.57; p = 0.031; p < 0.05) was observed. The principal component analysis (PCA) determined a compact central cluster, and two clusters on locations Dopsin and Dalj, where the concentration of all the elements, except for Hg, was higher.
Conclusions: Even cabbage, as an indicator of environmental contamination with metals, indicates that after the war the total load of metal in Eastern Croatia is not high. However, the cabbage also confirmed the locality of Dalj as a "hot spot", accordingly to previously established positive correlations of Al, Fe, Mg and Ni in hair, soil and dandelion, and B, Cu, Si, Sr and Zn correlations in serum, urine and water in that same location, indicating a possible common source and mechanism of transferring metals.
Keywords
Cabbage; soil; metals; metalloids; Homeland War
Hrčak ID:
177962
URI
Publication date:
20.3.2017.
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