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Arsenic is a toxic chemical that can be found naturally in soil and rock. Exposure to high levels of arsenic in soil can have detrimental effects on human health, including cancer and skin damage. The presence of arsenic in the soil can be caused by both natural and human-made sources, such as mining and industrial activities. A total of 60 soil samples were collected in the agricultural soils of two regions of Kosovo known for pollution with heavy metals. Arsenic was extracted from the soil with aqua-regia (pseudo total concentration), NH4OAc-EDTA (potential bioavailable), and NH4NO3 (mobile fraction). The pseudo total content of As showed a high value in Mitrovice up to 654.89 mg kg-1 with a mean of 66.51 mg kg-1, whereas in Drenas region up to 23.63 mg kg-1 with a mean of 12.31 mg kg-1. All samples analyzed in the area of Drenas were within the target values, while those of Mitrovica only 50% were within the target values, 30% within the accepted values and 20% above the values allowed for the content of arsenic according to the legislation. The rate of extraction of the potentially bioavailable and mobile form was low with a mean of 0.003 mg kg-1 in Drenas area and 0.2683 mg kg-1, respectively 0.008 mg kg-1 in the Mitrovica area. The T test showed significant differences between regions in the three forms of arsenic content in agricultural soils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the soil formation factors and different geographic areas of Dukagjini Plain, particularly in Rahovec municipality, the variation of soil organic carbon is high. Soil organic carbon (SOC) has a crucial role in the determination of the physical, chemical and biological behaviour of the soil. The most common land use types of this area are vineyards, table grapes, horticulture such as peppers and cabbage, and arable lands such as maize, winter wheat, alfalfa, and meadows. Considering the lack of soil information data in Kosovo, it is necessary to have soil information about this territory. The main objectives of the present study are, therefore: i) to investigate and determine the concentration of the soil organic matter (SOM), SOC, nitrogen (N) and soil pH-H2O, using laboratory analysis, and ii) to show the spatial distribution of SOC, SOM, N and pH using the Kriging and inverse weighting interpolation methods. Spatial variability of soil chemical parameters such as SOM, SOC, N, and pH are important to be interpolated to view the changeable soil properties by kriging and inverse distance weighting method and to generate the continuous sample for site-specific management. Disturbed soil samples were collected from the top soil 0-30 cm and 30- 60 cm depth, to determine selected soil chemical parameters, during June-July 2019. A large number of soil samples were collected, 2087 in the first horizon and 2065 in the second. The average of SOC of the first horizon was 0.91%, which variates from 0.07 to 4.06%, while in the second horizon was 0.0 to 2.84%, the average content of N in the first horizon was 0.09%, which variate from 0.01 to 0.60%, while in the second horizon was 0.0 to 0.39%, meanwhile, the average of soil pH-H2O in the first horizon was 7.67, which variates from 4.25 to 9.35, while in the second horizon was 7.79, which variate from 3.25 to 9.30. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]