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Air pollution is recognized as one of the most serious public health issues worldwide and was declared to be a leading environmental cause of cancer deaths. At the same time, the cytokinesis-block micronucleus (CBMN) assay serves as a cancer predictive method that is extensively used in human biomonitoring for populations exposed to environmental contamination. The objective of this cross-sectional study is two-fold: to evaluate genomic instability in a sample (N = 130) of healthy, general population residents from Zagreb (Croatia), chronically exposed to different levels of air pollution, and to relate them to air pollution levels in the period from 2011 to 2015. Measured frequencies of CBMN assay parameters were in agreement with the baseline data for the general population of Croatia. Air pollution exposure was based on four factors obtained from a factor analysis of all exposure data obtained for the examined period. Based on the statistical results, we did not observe a significant positive association between any of the CBMN assay parameters tested and measured air pollution parameters for designated time windows, except for benzo(a)pyrene (B[a]P) that showed significant negative association. Our results show that measured air pollution parameters are largely below the regulatory limits, except for B[a]P, and as such, they do not affect CBMN assay parameters' frequency. Nevertheless, as air pollution is identified as a major health threat, it is necessary to conduct prospective studies investigating the effect of air pollution on genome integrity and human health.

In this paper, the authors investigated changes in mass concentrations of particulate matter (PM) during the Coronavirus Disease of 2019 (COVID-19) lockdown. Daily samples of PM 1 , PM 2.5 and PM 10 fractions were measured at an urban background sampling site in Zagreb, Croatia from 2009 to late 2020. For the purpose of meteorological normalization, the mass concentrations were fed alongside meteorological and temporal data to Random Forest (RF) and LightGBM (LGB) models tuned by Bayesian optimization. The models' predictions were subsequently de-weathered by meteorological normalization using repeated random resampling of all predictive variables except the trend variable. Three pollution periods in 2020 were examined in detail: January and February, as pre-lockdown, the month of April as the lockdown period, as well as June and July as the "new normal". An evaluation using normalized mass concentrations of particulate matter and Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted. The results showed that no significant differences were observed for PM 1 , PM 2.5 and PM 10 in April 2020-compared to the same period in 2018 and 2019. No significant changes were observed for the "new normal" as well. The results thus indicate that a reduction in mobility during COVID-19 lockdown in Zagreb, Croatia, did not significantly affect particulate matter concentration in the long-term..

A measurement station located in an urban area on the southern slope of the Medvednica Mountain (120 m a.s.l.), close to the Croatian capital Zagreb, provided data for an analysis of the photosmog in the city of Zagreb. Data for the period 2003-2016 obtained from this station and analysed in this work can also be compared with the nearby Puntijarka station (980 m a.s.l.) for which a similar analysis has already been carried out. In Puntijarka station analysis, it has been shown that there is most probably no significant change in ozone concentrations during the observed period. In this study the mean value of the annual ozone volume fractions showed a linear trend of 0.23 ppb yr -1 , a growth that is in the worst case scenario among the lowest global prediction, while the seasonal (April-to-September) mean values had a trend of 0.32 ppb yr -1 , which is a certain clearly observable growth. The 95-percentile values had trends of 0.009 ppb yr -1 (annual data) and -0.072 ppb yr -1 (seasonal data), respectively. Both of these values show very small changes if any at all. By using FT analysis, with the calculation of uncertainties, we have observed three prominent cycles of 169 ± 4 h (weekly cycle), 24 ± 1 h and 12 ± 1 h (diurnal cycles). Uncertainties were low which strongly indicate that the cycles are present. However, since high concentrations of ozone were observed only sporadically, ozone pollution in the northern part of Zagreb is at the present rather low. A Fourier transformation was used to analyse the data for periodic behaviour, which revealed the existence of diurnal and weekly modulations. Nevertheless, constant monitoring is important and will continue in the future as part of continuous monitoring of the ozone levels in the area., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

We took samples of uncultivated soil from the surface layer (0-10 cm) at 138 sites from all over Croatia and measured their radionuclide activity concentrations with high-resolution gamma-ray spectrometry. This second part of our report brings the results on 40 K and 137 Cs to complement those on the 232 Th and 238 U decay chains addressed in the first part. Together they give the most complete picture of radioactivity of Croatian soil so far. Activity concentrations of 40 K were the highest in the Pannonian region, and there was an opposite trend for 137 Cs. We found that the concentrations of 137 Cs tended to increase with altitude, annual precipitation, and vegetation density. The concentration ratio of 137 Cs and K in soil, which indicates the potential for 137 Cs entering food chains via uptake by plants, was the lowest in agriculturally important areas in the east of the Pannonian region. In addition, we used the obtained results on activity concentrations to calculate the related absorbed dose rate as a measure of external exposure to ionising radiation from soil. The sum of the absorbed dose rates for naturally occurring radionuclides and 137 Cs showed that external exposure was generally the highest in the Dinaric region and Istrian Peninsula., (© 2021 Marko Šoštarić et al., published by Sciendo.)

The assessment of environmental radioactivity much relies on radionuclide content in soil. This stems from the significant contribution of soil to both external and internal exposure to ionising radiation via direct emission of gamma radiation and soil-to-plant radionuclide transfer, respectively. This motivated us to carry out a systematic research on the radioactivity of soil in Croatia to obtain relevant data that can be used as a basis for understanding the related effects of geomorphological, biogeographical, and climatological properties of the environment. We collected samples of the surface layer of uncultivated soil (0-10 cm) at 138 sites from all over the country and measured them for radionuclide activity concentrations by means of high-resolution gamma-ray spectrometry. This resulted in radioactivity maps containing data on activity concentrations of representative radionuclides in the environment. In this paper, which is the first in our two-part presentation, we focus on the naturally occurring 232 Th and 238 U decay chains and their correlations with the diversity of Croatian regions. For both of the chains, activity concentrations were the highest in the Dinaric region, the lowest in the Pannonian region, and intermediate in the Adriatic region. Relatively high concentrations of 226 Ra in the soil of the Dinaric region implied a possibility of an enhanced emanation of its progeny 222 Rn into the air. Activity concentrations of 210 Pb were additionally elevated in areas with dense vegetation, most probably due to an atmospheric deposition of airborne 210 Pb onto the surface of plants and their eventual decomposition on the ground., (© 2021 Marko Šoštarić et al., published by Sciendo.)

Platinum (Pt), palladium (Pd) and rhodium (Rh) are most widely used in the production of automotive catalytic converters that serve to reduce toxic emissions from motor vehicles. The aim of this study was to quantitatively determine the levels of platinum, palladium and rhodium in the PM 10 and PM 2.5 fraction of airborne particle matter and find their spatial and temporal distribution at different polluted areas of the city of Zagreb, Croatia. The method used in this paper included weekly sampling of airborne particle matter on quartz filters, microwave digestion in acid under high pressure and temperature, and analysis by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP MS). The results have shown that the highest mean values at all three sampling stations (North, Center, South) were obtained for palladium (3.856 pg m -3 , 5.396 pg m -3 , 5.600 pg m -3 ) and the lowest for rhodium (0.444 pg m -3 , 0.643 pg m -3 , 0.750 pg m -3 ). The average mass concentrations of platinum group elements (PGE) in PM 10 increased for all three elements in the direction North < Center < South which had to do with the traffic load nearby the monitoring stations. The ratio of measured mass concentrations to all measuring stations was similar to platinum, palladium and rhodium content in automotive catalytic converters. Factor analysis grouped platinum, palladium and rhodium at all of the monitoring stations, and their relation to other metals together with the aforementioned results indicate that their main source of pollution is traffic or precisely automotive catalytic converters. At all three of the monitoring sites, higher values were measured during the colder part of the year. The results of measuring platinum, palladium and rhodium levels in the city of Zagreb are the first results of their kind for this area and will provide insights into the contribution of catalytic converters to the presence of these elements in the environment., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Plaster splints are used daily in surgical and orthopedic fields in order to immobilize injured children and adults. The aim of this study was to measure the aerodynamic diameter and concentration of dust particles in the air caused by sawing plaster splints (calcium sulfate dehy-drate). We performed fractional measurements of airborne dust particles. The measured particles, which can potentially be inhaled, may have a specific negative effect on human health. Measurements were conducted in laboratory research facilities that simulated hospital conditions within a casting room and the associated waiting room. Measurements within the casting room were made using two particle collector devices and one laser photometer. The measurement for the simulated waiting room was performed using the same principles and devices. The collected plaster dust particles differed in aerodynamic diameter and concentration according to the various locations observed. The highest concentration of particles of all sizes was recorded at the site of cast sawing. There was direct correlation between distance from the source and concentration of airborne particles; this concentration was lowest in the waiting room. The concentrations of plaster dust recorded were lower than the recommended minimal limit values for total and respiratory fractions in Croatia. Accordingly, it can be assumed that sawing of plaster splints has no harmful health effects on the exposed patients and health personnel.