Plant Biosystems - An International Journal Dealing with all Aspects of Plant Biology
ABSTRACT An experiment was undertaken to evaluate the effect of liquid manure amendment on heavy ... more ABSTRACT An experiment was undertaken to evaluate the effect of liquid manure amendment on heavy metal accumulation in wheat and barley. For this purpose, both kinds of seedlings were grown simultaneously in a Petri dish, while wheat seedlings were also grown in pots containing unpolluted agricultural soil. All of the seedlings were irrigated with one of the three prepared solutions: artificial rainwater solution, heavy metal solution and liquid manure solution containing NH4NO3, H3PO4 and KOH along with equal amounts of heavy metals as in the second solution. Twenty days later, 1 g of plant tissue was digested with the mixture of HNO3 and H2O2 for ICP-OES/HG-ICP-OES analysis. The results showed that the uptake of arsenic and mercury was highest for both plants grown in a Petri dish. Furthermore, the wheat grown in a Petri dish also had a high content of nickel, cadmium and copper, while the pot-grown wheat contained high amounts of iron and manganese, probably due to the adsorption of nickel, cadmium, copper and mercury on soil phases. The lower uptake of all heavy metals was observed after the amendment of liquid manure, with the exception of manganese in wheat and mercury in all plants.
The main purpose of this paper is to examine seasonal variations in mortality resulting from card... more The main purpose of this paper is to examine seasonal variations in mortality resulting from cardiovascular diseases, respiratory diseases and cancer, as well as to provide a review of environmental factors underlying such phenomenon. The herein presented study was conducted on the territory of Belgrade based on the data on daily mortality rates obtained from the Institute of Public Health in Belgrade for the period 2009-2014, as well as the data on annual mortality rates provided by the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia for the period 2000-2014. The analysis of mortality variations was performed by the use of Theil-Sen method, smooth trend method and cubic spline interpolation, whereas desriptive tools, such as winter/summer ratio and dissimilarity index, were used to examine the seasonal pattern. According to the Institute of Public Health, over 113430 deaths were registered in Belgrade area for the period 2009-2014, out of which 53.25% is attributed to cardiovascular d...
Journal of toxicology and environmental health. Part A, 2016
The aim of this study was to investigate the association between short- and long-term exposure to... more The aim of this study was to investigate the association between short- and long-term exposure to particulate matter (PM10), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and soot and mortality attributed to circulatory and respiratory diseases in Belgrade area (Serbia). The analyzed data set comprised results of regular pollutant monitoring and corresponding administrative records on frequency of daily mortality in the period 2009-2014. Nonlinear exposure-response dependencies and delayed effects of temperature were examined by means of distributed lag nonlinear models. The air pollutant loadings and circulatory system-related death rates in Belgrade area are among the highest in Europe. Data demonstrated that excess risk of death with short-term exposure to elevated concentrations of PM10, SO2, and soot was not significant, whereas marked effect size estimates for exposure over 90 d preceding mortality were found. The influence of chronic exposure was shown to be greater for respi...
Journal of Environmental Science and Health, Part A, 2015
The aim of this study was to assess PM10 pollution level and estimate required source emission re... more The aim of this study was to assess PM10 pollution level and estimate required source emission reduction in Belgrade area, the second largest urban center in the Balkans. Daily mass concentrations and trace metal content (As, Cd, Cr, Mn, Ni, Pb) of PM10 were evaluated for three air quality monitoring sites of different types: urban-traffic (Slavija), suburban (Lazarevac) and rural (Grabovac) under the industrial influence, during the period of 2012-13. Noncompliance with current Air Quality Standards (AQS) was noticeable: annual means were higher than AQS at Slavija and Lazarevac, and daily frequency threshold was exceeded at all three locations. Annual means of As at Lazarevac were about four times higher than the target concentration, which could be attributed to the proximity of coal-fired power plants, and dust resuspension from coal basin and nearby ash landfills. Additionally, levels of Ni and Cr were significantly higher than in other European cities. Carcinogenic health risk of inhabitants' exposure to trace metals was assessed as well. Cumulative cancer risk exceeded the upper limit of acceptable US EPA range at two sites, with Cr and As as the major contributors. To estimate source emission reduction, required to meet AQS, lognormal, Weibull and Pearson 5 probability distribution, functions (PDF) were used to fit daily PM10 concentrations. Based on the rollback equation and best fitting PDF, estimated reduction was within the range of 28-98%. Finally, the required reduction obtained using two-parameter exponential distribution suggested that risks associated to accidental releases of pollutants should be of greater concern.
Proton Transfer Reaction — Mass Spectrometry (PTR-MS) offers the possibility of sensitive volatil... more Proton Transfer Reaction — Mass Spectrometry (PTR-MS) offers the possibility of sensitive volatile organic compound (VOCs) detection without sample preparation or chromatography and is therefore a suitable tool to track the dynamics of VOCs emission. PTR-MS has wide application in medicine and environmental research. Monitoring of VOCs emission could be used in the control of food, and examples will be shown on the ripening/aging process of fruit, on VOC emissions from coffee, and on the quality control of meat. In the present study we describe the possibilities of PTR-MS use in the detection of volatile compounds under in vitro conditions. The identification of nepetalactone in the atmosphere of glass jars, in which shoot cultures of three Nepeta species were grown, was performed. The effect of different carbohydrate source in culture medium on the accumulation of nepetalactone in shoot cultures of N. rtanjensis, N. sibirica and N. nervosa was investigated. Furthermore, the release...
The main purpose of this study was to assess the exceedance frequency of the EU (50 μg m−3) and U... more The main purpose of this study was to assess the exceedance frequency of the EU (50 μg m−3) and US EPA (150 μg m−3) daily PM10 limit values, as well as the emission source reduction required to comply with air quality standards. The analysis was based on a 10-year (2003–2013) data set obtained for the Belgrade (Serbia) urban area, which is seriously affected by pollution. General probability (Pearson 5, lognormal and Weibull) and extreme value (two-parameter exponential and Gumbel’s) distributions were used to fit data and to estimate the number of exceedances. With the use of best fitting general probability distribution and rollback equation, the required reduction was determined to be in the range of 12 to 98 % for some years, although for others the total reduction of moderate sources would be insufficient to meet air quality regulations. The required emission reduction of strong sources for the whole monitoring period was estimated by means of extreme value distributions at abo...
The concentrations of VOCs (obtained by PTR-MS), ethylbenzene, xylene, NOx, NO, NO2, SO2, CO and ... more The concentrations of VOCs (obtained by PTR-MS), ethylbenzene, xylene, NOx, NO, NO2, SO2, CO and meteorological parameters were measured at Belgrade (Serbia) urban site during winter 2014. US EPA Unmix receptor model was applied on obtained dataset resolving six emission sources and their contributions to urban air pollution. The dynamics of traffic source contribution and its variation with meteorological parameters were analyzed. The results showed that the urban site is strongly influenced by traffic-related emissions with average contribution of 26%.
During a two-month campaign in winter 2014, the concentrations of VOCs were measured by Proton Tr... more During a two-month campaign in winter 2014, the concentrations of VOCs were measured by Proton Transfer Reaction Mass Spectrometer (PTR-MS) together with other air pollutants (NOx, NO, NO2, SO2 and CO) and meteorological parameters in Belgrade (Serbia) urban area. US EPA Unmix receptor model was applied resolving six source profiles. The profile with the third largest an average contribution of 12.8% was attributed to chemical industry. The spatio-temporal variations of source contributions and the impact of meteorological parameters were analyzed by Openair software. As shown, the air pollution from petrochemical complex located in Pančevo has a noticeable impact on air quality of Belgrade urban area.
Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 2015
ABSTRACT In this study, the concentrations of volatile organic compounds were measured by the use... more ABSTRACT In this study, the concentrations of volatile organic compounds were measured by the use of proton transfer reaction mass spectrometry, together with NO x , NO, NO2, SO2, CO and PM10 and meteorological parameters in an urban area of Belgrade during winter 2014. The multivariate receptor model US EPA Unmix was applied to the obtained dataset resolving six source profiles, which can be attributed to traffic-related emissions, gasoline evaporation/oil refineries, petrochemical industry/biogenic emissions, aged plumes, solid-fuel burning and local laboratories. Besides the vehicle exhaust, accounting for 27.6 % of the total mixing ratios, industrial emissions, which are present in three out of six resolved profiles, exert a significant impact on air quality in the urban area. The major contribution of regional and long-range transport was determined for source profiles associated with petrochemical industry/biogenic emissions (40 %) and gasoline evaporation/oil refineries (29 %) using trajectory sector analysis. The concentration-weighted trajectory model was applied with the aim of resolving the spatial distribution of potential distant sources, and the results indicated that emission sources from neighbouring countries, as well as from Slovakia, Greece, Poland and Scandinavian countries, significantly contribute to the observed concentrations.
The Science of the total environment, Jan 27, 2015
In this study, advanced multivariate methods were applied for VOC source apportionment and subseq... more In this study, advanced multivariate methods were applied for VOC source apportionment and subsequent short-term forecast of industrial- and vehicle exhaust-related contributions in Belgrade urban area (Serbia). The VOC concentrations were measured using PTR-MS, together with inorganic gaseous pollutants (NOx, NO, NO2, SO2, and CO), PM10, and meteorological parameters. US EPA Positive Matrix Factorization and Unmix receptor models were applied to the obtained dataset both resolving six source profiles. For the purpose of forecasting industrial- and vehicle exhaust-related source contributions, different multivariate methods were employed in two separate cases, relying on meteorological data, and on meteorological data and concentrations of inorganic gaseous pollutants, respectively. The results indicate that Boosted Decision Trees and Multi-Layer Perceptrons were the best performing methods. According to the results, forecasting accuracy was high (lowest relative error of only 6%), ...
ABSTRACT In the present study, the concentrations of VOC were measured using Proton Transfer Reac... more ABSTRACT In the present study, the concentrations of VOC were measured using Proton Transfer Reaction Mass Spectrometer, together with NOx, NO2, NO, SO2, CO, and PM10 during winter 2014 in Belgrade, Serbia. For the purpose of source apportionment, receptor models Positive Matrix Factorization and Unmix were applied to the obtained dataset, both resolving six profiles. The reliable identification of pollutant sources, description of their characteristics, and estimation of their spatio-temporal distribution are presented through comprehensive analysis and comparison of receptor model solutions, with respect to meteorological data, planetary boundary layer height, and regional and long-range transport. For emissions from petrochemical industry and oil refinery a significant contribution of transport is observed, and hybrid receptor models were applied for identification of potential non-local source regions.
Plant Biosystems - An International Journal Dealing with all Aspects of Plant Biology
ABSTRACT An experiment was undertaken to evaluate the effect of liquid manure amendment on heavy ... more ABSTRACT An experiment was undertaken to evaluate the effect of liquid manure amendment on heavy metal accumulation in wheat and barley. For this purpose, both kinds of seedlings were grown simultaneously in a Petri dish, while wheat seedlings were also grown in pots containing unpolluted agricultural soil. All of the seedlings were irrigated with one of the three prepared solutions: artificial rainwater solution, heavy metal solution and liquid manure solution containing NH4NO3, H3PO4 and KOH along with equal amounts of heavy metals as in the second solution. Twenty days later, 1 g of plant tissue was digested with the mixture of HNO3 and H2O2 for ICP-OES/HG-ICP-OES analysis. The results showed that the uptake of arsenic and mercury was highest for both plants grown in a Petri dish. Furthermore, the wheat grown in a Petri dish also had a high content of nickel, cadmium and copper, while the pot-grown wheat contained high amounts of iron and manganese, probably due to the adsorption of nickel, cadmium, copper and mercury on soil phases. The lower uptake of all heavy metals was observed after the amendment of liquid manure, with the exception of manganese in wheat and mercury in all plants.
The main purpose of this paper is to examine seasonal variations in mortality resulting from card... more The main purpose of this paper is to examine seasonal variations in mortality resulting from cardiovascular diseases, respiratory diseases and cancer, as well as to provide a review of environmental factors underlying such phenomenon. The herein presented study was conducted on the territory of Belgrade based on the data on daily mortality rates obtained from the Institute of Public Health in Belgrade for the period 2009-2014, as well as the data on annual mortality rates provided by the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia for the period 2000-2014. The analysis of mortality variations was performed by the use of Theil-Sen method, smooth trend method and cubic spline interpolation, whereas desriptive tools, such as winter/summer ratio and dissimilarity index, were used to examine the seasonal pattern. According to the Institute of Public Health, over 113430 deaths were registered in Belgrade area for the period 2009-2014, out of which 53.25% is attributed to cardiovascular d...
Journal of toxicology and environmental health. Part A, 2016
The aim of this study was to investigate the association between short- and long-term exposure to... more The aim of this study was to investigate the association between short- and long-term exposure to particulate matter (PM10), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and soot and mortality attributed to circulatory and respiratory diseases in Belgrade area (Serbia). The analyzed data set comprised results of regular pollutant monitoring and corresponding administrative records on frequency of daily mortality in the period 2009-2014. Nonlinear exposure-response dependencies and delayed effects of temperature were examined by means of distributed lag nonlinear models. The air pollutant loadings and circulatory system-related death rates in Belgrade area are among the highest in Europe. Data demonstrated that excess risk of death with short-term exposure to elevated concentrations of PM10, SO2, and soot was not significant, whereas marked effect size estimates for exposure over 90 d preceding mortality were found. The influence of chronic exposure was shown to be greater for respi...
Journal of Environmental Science and Health, Part A, 2015
The aim of this study was to assess PM10 pollution level and estimate required source emission re... more The aim of this study was to assess PM10 pollution level and estimate required source emission reduction in Belgrade area, the second largest urban center in the Balkans. Daily mass concentrations and trace metal content (As, Cd, Cr, Mn, Ni, Pb) of PM10 were evaluated for three air quality monitoring sites of different types: urban-traffic (Slavija), suburban (Lazarevac) and rural (Grabovac) under the industrial influence, during the period of 2012-13. Noncompliance with current Air Quality Standards (AQS) was noticeable: annual means were higher than AQS at Slavija and Lazarevac, and daily frequency threshold was exceeded at all three locations. Annual means of As at Lazarevac were about four times higher than the target concentration, which could be attributed to the proximity of coal-fired power plants, and dust resuspension from coal basin and nearby ash landfills. Additionally, levels of Ni and Cr were significantly higher than in other European cities. Carcinogenic health risk of inhabitants' exposure to trace metals was assessed as well. Cumulative cancer risk exceeded the upper limit of acceptable US EPA range at two sites, with Cr and As as the major contributors. To estimate source emission reduction, required to meet AQS, lognormal, Weibull and Pearson 5 probability distribution, functions (PDF) were used to fit daily PM10 concentrations. Based on the rollback equation and best fitting PDF, estimated reduction was within the range of 28-98%. Finally, the required reduction obtained using two-parameter exponential distribution suggested that risks associated to accidental releases of pollutants should be of greater concern.
Proton Transfer Reaction — Mass Spectrometry (PTR-MS) offers the possibility of sensitive volatil... more Proton Transfer Reaction — Mass Spectrometry (PTR-MS) offers the possibility of sensitive volatile organic compound (VOCs) detection without sample preparation or chromatography and is therefore a suitable tool to track the dynamics of VOCs emission. PTR-MS has wide application in medicine and environmental research. Monitoring of VOCs emission could be used in the control of food, and examples will be shown on the ripening/aging process of fruit, on VOC emissions from coffee, and on the quality control of meat. In the present study we describe the possibilities of PTR-MS use in the detection of volatile compounds under in vitro conditions. The identification of nepetalactone in the atmosphere of glass jars, in which shoot cultures of three Nepeta species were grown, was performed. The effect of different carbohydrate source in culture medium on the accumulation of nepetalactone in shoot cultures of N. rtanjensis, N. sibirica and N. nervosa was investigated. Furthermore, the release...
The main purpose of this study was to assess the exceedance frequency of the EU (50 μg m−3) and U... more The main purpose of this study was to assess the exceedance frequency of the EU (50 μg m−3) and US EPA (150 μg m−3) daily PM10 limit values, as well as the emission source reduction required to comply with air quality standards. The analysis was based on a 10-year (2003–2013) data set obtained for the Belgrade (Serbia) urban area, which is seriously affected by pollution. General probability (Pearson 5, lognormal and Weibull) and extreme value (two-parameter exponential and Gumbel’s) distributions were used to fit data and to estimate the number of exceedances. With the use of best fitting general probability distribution and rollback equation, the required reduction was determined to be in the range of 12 to 98 % for some years, although for others the total reduction of moderate sources would be insufficient to meet air quality regulations. The required emission reduction of strong sources for the whole monitoring period was estimated by means of extreme value distributions at abo...
The concentrations of VOCs (obtained by PTR-MS), ethylbenzene, xylene, NOx, NO, NO2, SO2, CO and ... more The concentrations of VOCs (obtained by PTR-MS), ethylbenzene, xylene, NOx, NO, NO2, SO2, CO and meteorological parameters were measured at Belgrade (Serbia) urban site during winter 2014. US EPA Unmix receptor model was applied on obtained dataset resolving six emission sources and their contributions to urban air pollution. The dynamics of traffic source contribution and its variation with meteorological parameters were analyzed. The results showed that the urban site is strongly influenced by traffic-related emissions with average contribution of 26%.
During a two-month campaign in winter 2014, the concentrations of VOCs were measured by Proton Tr... more During a two-month campaign in winter 2014, the concentrations of VOCs were measured by Proton Transfer Reaction Mass Spectrometer (PTR-MS) together with other air pollutants (NOx, NO, NO2, SO2 and CO) and meteorological parameters in Belgrade (Serbia) urban area. US EPA Unmix receptor model was applied resolving six source profiles. The profile with the third largest an average contribution of 12.8% was attributed to chemical industry. The spatio-temporal variations of source contributions and the impact of meteorological parameters were analyzed by Openair software. As shown, the air pollution from petrochemical complex located in Pančevo has a noticeable impact on air quality of Belgrade urban area.
Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 2015
ABSTRACT In this study, the concentrations of volatile organic compounds were measured by the use... more ABSTRACT In this study, the concentrations of volatile organic compounds were measured by the use of proton transfer reaction mass spectrometry, together with NO x , NO, NO2, SO2, CO and PM10 and meteorological parameters in an urban area of Belgrade during winter 2014. The multivariate receptor model US EPA Unmix was applied to the obtained dataset resolving six source profiles, which can be attributed to traffic-related emissions, gasoline evaporation/oil refineries, petrochemical industry/biogenic emissions, aged plumes, solid-fuel burning and local laboratories. Besides the vehicle exhaust, accounting for 27.6 % of the total mixing ratios, industrial emissions, which are present in three out of six resolved profiles, exert a significant impact on air quality in the urban area. The major contribution of regional and long-range transport was determined for source profiles associated with petrochemical industry/biogenic emissions (40 %) and gasoline evaporation/oil refineries (29 %) using trajectory sector analysis. The concentration-weighted trajectory model was applied with the aim of resolving the spatial distribution of potential distant sources, and the results indicated that emission sources from neighbouring countries, as well as from Slovakia, Greece, Poland and Scandinavian countries, significantly contribute to the observed concentrations.
The Science of the total environment, Jan 27, 2015
In this study, advanced multivariate methods were applied for VOC source apportionment and subseq... more In this study, advanced multivariate methods were applied for VOC source apportionment and subsequent short-term forecast of industrial- and vehicle exhaust-related contributions in Belgrade urban area (Serbia). The VOC concentrations were measured using PTR-MS, together with inorganic gaseous pollutants (NOx, NO, NO2, SO2, and CO), PM10, and meteorological parameters. US EPA Positive Matrix Factorization and Unmix receptor models were applied to the obtained dataset both resolving six source profiles. For the purpose of forecasting industrial- and vehicle exhaust-related source contributions, different multivariate methods were employed in two separate cases, relying on meteorological data, and on meteorological data and concentrations of inorganic gaseous pollutants, respectively. The results indicate that Boosted Decision Trees and Multi-Layer Perceptrons were the best performing methods. According to the results, forecasting accuracy was high (lowest relative error of only 6%), ...
ABSTRACT In the present study, the concentrations of VOC were measured using Proton Transfer Reac... more ABSTRACT In the present study, the concentrations of VOC were measured using Proton Transfer Reaction Mass Spectrometer, together with NOx, NO2, NO, SO2, CO, and PM10 during winter 2014 in Belgrade, Serbia. For the purpose of source apportionment, receptor models Positive Matrix Factorization and Unmix were applied to the obtained dataset, both resolving six profiles. The reliable identification of pollutant sources, description of their characteristics, and estimation of their spatio-temporal distribution are presented through comprehensive analysis and comparison of receptor model solutions, with respect to meteorological data, planetary boundary layer height, and regional and long-range transport. For emissions from petrochemical industry and oil refinery a significant contribution of transport is observed, and hybrid receptor models were applied for identification of potential non-local source regions.
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Papers by Andreja Stojic