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This study investigated the occurrence and distribution of rare earth elements (REEs), including 14 lanthanoids, scandium (Sc), and yttrium (Y), in groundwater around a large coal-fired thermal power plant (TPP). The ICP-MS technique was used to analyze 16 REEs in groundwater samples collected from monitoring wells. REE concentrations ranged from 59.9 to 758 ng/L, with an average of 290 ng/L. The most abundant was Sc, followed by La, accounting for 54.2% and 21.4% of the total REE concentration, respectively. Geospatial analysis revealed the REE enrichment at several hotspots near the TPP. The highest REE concentrations were observed near the TPP and ash landfill, decreasing with the distance from the plant and the landfill. REE fractionation ratios and anomalies suggested the Light REE dominance, comprising over 78% of the total REEs. Correlation and principal component analyses indicated similar behavior and sources for most REEs. Health risk assessment found hazard indices (HI) of 1.36 × 10−3 and 1.98 × 10−3 for adults and children, respectively, which are far below the permissible limit (HI = 1). Likewise, incremental lifetime cancer risks (ILCR) were all below 1 × 10−6. Nevertheless, ongoing ash disposal and potential accumulation in the environment could elevate the REE exposure over time.

This study investigates the effects of ultrasound, in combination with chemical pretreatments, on the quality attributes (total phenolic and carotenoid content, antioxidant activity (2,2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl assay (DPPH)), ferric-reducing ability (FRAP), CIE L* a* b* color, non-enzymatic browning, rehydration ratio, textural and morphological properties) of red pepper subjected to drying (hot air drying or freeze drying). The fractional factorial design was used to assess the impact of factors. The global Derringer desirability function was used to determine the optimal conditions for the best quality attributes of dried pepper. The drying method influenced total phenolic content, a* (redness), and initial rehydration ratio; pretreatment time significantly affected FRAP antiradical activity, a*, chroma and non-browning index, while pH-value had a significant effect on the texture of dried pepper. Non-enzymatic browning was reduced to 72.6%, while the DPPH antioxidant capacity of freeze-dried peppers was enhanced from 4.2% to 71.9%. Ultrasonic pretreatment led to changes in the pepper morphology, while potassium metabisulfite (KMS) was a more effective additive than citric acid.

The influence of extraction parameters on the ultrasonically assisted extraction (UAE) of K, Na, Ca, Mg, Zn, Cu, Fe, Mn, Cr, Se, Mo, Li, Al, B, Pb, Hg, Cd, As, and Ni was studied to determine the conditions when a minimum of essential and maximum of toxic elements is leached from peppers, depending on its ripening stage. The effect of process variables was investigated by using Box–Behnken design. Each essential element had a different optimal condition for minimal leaching, while the toxic elements were predominantly extracted with acetic acid solution as extractant. The highest correlation between extraction conditions and concentration of extracted elements was found for aqueous extracts of mature green pepper. The concentration of acetic acid highly influenced the leaching of elements and a strong correlation between the concentration of Al, B, Fe, and Mn, and the UAE experimental conditions were observed. Practical applications: This study investigates the leaching of minerals and heavy metals present in vegetables to the most commonly used media (water and acetic acid) during processing and canning. The data from this study may be useful for improving the quality of processed pepper products due to new information on how different parameters influence these losses (ripening stage of peppers, medium/solvent used for preparation, or storage, applied temperatures, time, mass to volume ratio). Essential elements are better preserved during the processing of intermediate breaker and mature red pepper compared to green mature fruits. Better retention of essential elements in the breaker and mature red pepper (that are mostly used in industrial processing) can be achieved by reducing the contact time with water, as well as mass to volume ratio. Leaching of toxic elements Al, Hg, and As can be improved with an acetic acid solution.

Pesticides are extensively used in the cultivation and postharvest protection of citrus fruits, therefore continuous monitoring and health risk assessments of their residues are required. This study aimed to investigate the occurrence of pesticide residues on citrus fruits and to evaluate the acute and chronic risk for adults and children. The risk ranking of twenty-three detected pesticides was carried out according to a matrix ranking scheme. Multiple residues were detected in 83% of 76 analyzed samples. In addition, 28% contained pesticides at or above maximum residue levels (MRLs). The most frequently detected pesticides were imazalil, azoxystrobin, and dimethomorph. According to the risk ranking method, imazalil was classified in the high-risk group, followed by prochloraz, chlorpyrifos, azinphos-methyl, tebufenpyrad, and fenpiroximate, which were considered to pose a medium risk. The majority of detected pesticides (74%) posed a low risk. The health risk assessment indicated that imazalil and thiabendazole contribute to acute (HQa) and chronic (HQc) dietary risk, respectively. The HQc was negligible for the general population, while the HQa of imazalil and thiabendazole exceeded the acceptable level in the worst-case scenario. Cumulative chronic/acute risk (HIc/HIa) assessment showed that chronic risk was acceptable in all samples for children and adults, while the acute risk was unacceptable in 5.3% of citrus fruits for adults and 26% of citrus fruits for children. Sensitivity analyses indicated that the ingestion rate and individual body weight were the most influential risk factors.

The overall quality of processed food depends on many processing parameters such as temperature, processing time, mixing speed, pressure, pH value, size of food pieces, type of added ingredients, etc. The goal of food products devel- opment is not only to improve the quality of the final product but also to reduce the energy consumption and to improve resources management. Independent evaluation of a single parameter or response is not the best way to set and optimize experiments, because improving one response by controlling one parameter can negatively affect other responses. Experi- mental design is frequently used for experiment planning when multiple variables should be optimized, while the desirability function allows the determination of operating conditions that provide the “most desirable” response values. The desirability function allows the optimization of several responses simultaneously and the determination of the overall/cumulative/global quality. In this way, it is possible to determine the most suitable conditions for achieving the best overall product quality. In the desirability function, all responses are transformed into dimensionless individual desirability functions (di), which take values from 0 to 1. The value 0 indicates an undesirable response of the system, while the value 1 represents the most de-sirable response. All values between 0 and 1 indicate more or less desirable responses. There are three different equations for evaluating individual desirability functions depending on whether it is ideal for the response to be maximal, minimal or to have some target value. After calculating the individual desirability functions, they are combined into one global/overalldesirability function (D) [1,2]. If the value of this function is different from 0, it means that for all responses, the desired responses were achieved at the same time. If the value of the D is equal to 0, it means that for at least one response the desired response has not be

One of the most significant sources of drinking water is groundwater. Therefore, it is crucial to assess groundwater quality and ascertain potential causes of contamination to address pollution and provide people with clean drinking water. In this paper, groundwater in the Morava River plain is investigated and analyzed for 14 physicochemical parameters, such as pH, EC, HCO3 , NO3 - , PO4 3- , Cl- , SO4 2- , Na+ , K+ , Mg2+, Ca2+, Fe, Mn, and As. To determine groundwater facies and sources of pollution, three multivariate statistical analysis techniques were applied. Hierarchical Cluster Analysis (HCA) was used to group groundwater samples based on their similar chemical characteristics and to determine the dominant hydrochemical groundwater type. According to HCA results, groundwater samples were clustered into three groups, including Cluster 1 (72.3%), Cluster 2 (19.7%), and Cluster 3 (7.9%), and the main groundwater type was Ca-HCO3 type. Factor Analysis (FA) incorporated with Pearson correlation analysis was conducted to determine the main sources of pollution. Water-rock interactions and agricultural practices were identified as primary pollution sources in the investigated area.

Potentially toxic elements (PTEs) are transferred to vegetables primarily through agricultural soil or irrigation water. PTEs in agricultural soil originate from pedogenic and anthropogenic sources. In most cases, soil contamination with these elements happens via river systems or air pollution. Furthermore, food is now imported from many regions and countries, where it is grown in various conditions and on various agricultural lands. Peppers (Capsicum annuum) are popular vegetables in Serbia and worldwide. They are consumed in numerous dishes as fresh fruits, spices, or ingredients. Peppers are reach source of carotenoids, vitamins, antioxidant compounds, and other nutritive compounds. This study aimed to estimate the human exposure to thirteen PTEs present in fresh, dried, and processed peppers obtained from the Serbian market. The exposure assessment was conducted for people in four regions of Serbia by calculating the target hazard quotient (THQ) and carcinogenic risk (CR). The comparison across areas was made due to significant disparities in pepper consumption between them.

Heavy metal(loid)s (HMs) play an important role in economic development since they are used in various branches of industry. However, all industrial activities emit HMs into the environment, where they are no longer useful but potentially toxic. It has been observed that HMs enter the soil and sediment, and potential human health risk may arise due to their excessive accumulation. Having in mind the importance of assessing the risk due to HMs in these media, we analyzed published works in the last decade and created a summary of exposure factors in health risk models for HMs in soil and sediment. This analysis revealed a remarkable increase in the number of publications about health risk assessment of HMs, especially in the last few years. Since many differences in the values of the exposure factors and their distributions were noted, this study focused on elucidating these differences. Non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic health risk assessment models were evaluated through a deterministic approach that is prevalent in use, and a probabilistic one, which is gaining more and more attention in research. In the end, guided by the studied literature, we propose the values and distributions for the exposure factors.

The human health risks of cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), and nickel (Ni) in fifty regular and slim cigarette brands available in the Serbian market were evaluated. Distributions on per-cigarette basis concentrations of these metals, as determined by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry, were used as inputs in the probabilistic risk assessment. The contents of these metals in cigarettes varied significantly. Larger quantities of the studied metals were observed in regular cigarettes than in slim cigarettes, but the concentration levels per cigarette tobacco mass were higher in slim cigarettes. The metal concentrations in counterfeit cigarettes were marginally higher than those in authentic brands. Based on the mean concentrations, Pb was the most abundant toxic metal, followed by Ni and Cd. The calculated values of the cumulative hazard index (HI) and incremental lifetime cancer risk (ILCR) indicated a low noncarcinogenic risk and low but not negligible carcinogenic risk from Cd, Pb, and Ni. The mean HI and ILCR values obtained using probabilistic and deterministic approaches were similar. A Monte Carlo simulation was employed to minimize the uncertainty of health risk estimation. The sensitivity analysis revealed that the most influential factor was cigarette mass followed by Cd content.

Cilj ovoga istraživanja bio je unapređenje funkcionalnih i tehnoloških svojstava sušene konzumne i začinske paprike kroz primenu različitih predtretmana i metoda sušenja. Istraživanja su obuhvatila ispitivanje nutritivnih i antioksidativnih parametara svežih plodova i nutritivnih, antioksidativnih i fizičkih parametara prerađenih plodova konzumne i začinske paprike. Ispitan je uticaj različitih predtretmana, kao što su blanširanje, hemijski predtretman, ultrazvuk i njihove međusobne kombinacije. Dodatno, proučavan je i uticaj metoda sušenja - sušenje u tunelskoj sušari strujom toplog vazduha i sušenje postupkom liofilzacije. Glavni cilj je bio utvrđivanje najpogodnije kombinacije predtretmana i metoda sušenja za očuvanje nutritivnih, antioksidativnih i senzornih karakteristika sušene paprike. Frakcioni faktorijski dizajn je upotrebljen za proučavanje uticaja ovih faktora. U okviru prvog dela istraživanja izvršena je analiza mineralnog sastava komercijalno dostupnih svežih i prerađenih paprika kao i analiza sadržaja vitamina C kod četiri sorte konzumne paprike u tri stepena zrelosti. Takođe je izvršena i procena dijetetskog unosa minerala i zdravstvenog rizika koji potiče od toksičnih elemenata usled konzumacije plodova paprike. Rezultati ovih analiza ukazali su da plodovi paprike ne predstavljaju značajan izvor minerala, gde količine prisutne u prosečnim porcijama za decu i odrasle nisu dovoljne za zadovoljenje preporučenih dnevnih potreba. Izuzetak su bili određeni kiseli i sveži plodovi koji predstavljaju značajniji izvor Cu, Cr i Mo. Analizom sadržaja minerala u tri stepena zrelosti kod sorte Kurtovska kapija zapaženo je da se sadržaj minerala kontinualno menja tokom sazrevanja ploda što se ogleda u višem usvajanju K, Zn, Mg, Cu, B i gotovo stalnoj cirkulaciji Mg i Fe do pune zrelosti ploda. Rezultati ispitivanja zdravstvenog rizika su ukazali da plodovi paprike i njihovi proizvodi ne nose zdravstveni rizik za decu i odrasle usled unosa toksišnih elemenata kao št, This thesis aimed to improve the functional and technological properties of dried bell and paprika peppers by applying different pretreatments and drying methods. The research included the examination of nutritional and antioxidant parameters of fresh peppers and nutritional, antioxidant, and physical parameters of the processed dried bell and paprika peppers. The influence of different pretreatments, such as blanching, chemical pretreatment, ultrasound and their combinations, was investigated. Additionally, the effect of drying methods was studied - drying in a tunnel dryer with hot air and freeze-drying. The main goal was to determine the most suitable combination of pretreatments and drying methods for the preservation of nutritional, antioxidant, and sensory properties of dried pepper. Fractional factorial designs were used to study the effects of these factors. Within the first part of the research, the analysis of the mineral composition of commercially available fresh and processed peppers was performed, as well as the analysis of vitamin C content in four cultivars of bell peppers in three ripening stages. Dietary mineral intake and health risks assessment of toxic elements due to the consumption of pepper fruits were also evaluated. The results of these analyzes indicated that pepper fruits are not a significant source of minerals, where the amounts present in average portions for children and adults are not sufficient to meet the recommended daily needs. The exceptions were certain sour and fresh fruits, which are a significant source of Cu, Cr, and Mo. Analysis of mineral content in three ripening stages for the cultivar Kurtovska kapiya showed that the mineral content changes continuously during fruit ripening, which is reflected in higher absorption of K, Zn, Mg, Cu, B and almost constant circulation of Mg and Fe until full fruit maturity. The results of the health risk study indicated that pepper fruits and their products do not represent a health risk

Drying is one of the methods for the preservation of fruits and vegetables [1]. Peppers are still dried in open sunlight, although this method has many shortcomings (long drying time, microbial contamination, depending on weather conditions, final product of poor color) [2]. Deterioration of numerous nutrients, which occurs during drying, can be prevented by applying various pre-treatments and/or different drying methods [2–4]. The aim of this study was to investigate effects of different pretreatments and drying methods on L-ascorbic acid (L-AA) content in dried bell pepper. Effect of following parameters were studied: applied additive (0.25% citric acid, 0.25% potassium metabisulfite or their mixture), temperature, time, pH value of pretreatment solution, ultrasound pretreatment, pepper slices size, pepper mass and drying method (hot air-drying and freeze-drying). For organization of experiments fractional factorial design was used. Results showed that only the drying method significantly affects the content of L-AA after a month of storage. Freeze-drying was a better method for L-AA preservation. The interaction between the drying method and the size of pepper slices was also meaningful, although this interaction wasn’t statistically significant. Better preservation of L-AA, for hot air-dried samples, was achieved with a slices size of 4×4 cm compared to smaller (2×2 cm) and larger ones (8×8 cm). In the case of freeze-dried samples, the slice size didn’t affect the preservation of L-AA. The medium slices of the pepper fruit provided better penetration of the additives, which resulted in a better protective effect on L-AA during the hot air-drying. On the other hand, smaller pieces (2×2 cm) led to higher losses, probably due to the higher leaching of L-AA. Larger slices (8×8 cm) proved to be the most unfavorable for the preservation of L-AA (maybe due to less diffusion of additive during pretreatment and its later weak effect during drying).

This study collected agricultural surface soil samples from 200 sites in the district of Braničevo, located in the Carpathian Mountains – Pannonian Basin south of the Danube River (Serbia). The main objective was to determine the soil contamination by ten potentially toxic elements (As, B, Cd, Cr, Cu, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Zn) and evaluate the associated ecological risk via different indices. The physicochemical parameters, pH, organic carbon, water content, and soil texture were also analyzed. The mean values of most metal concentrations remained below their corresponding national target values, except for Mo and Ni. The main soil texture types were silt loam (40.5 %) and silty clay loam (34.5 %). According to the mean values, pollution load index (PLI) and potential ecological risk (RI) demonstrated that the soil in the study area was exposed to moderate pollution and moderate ecological risk, while enrichment factor (EF), geoaccumulation index (Igeo), and contamination factor (CF) revealed very high enrichment and contamination with Mo, implying the impact of anthropogenic activities. There was a lack of strong correlations among elements and soil properties, except for Cd and Corg, while moderate to strong positive inter-metal relationships suggested their common sources. The chemometric analysis illustrated the classification of sampling sites into two distinct clusters of spatial similarities according to higher and lower metal concentrations. Geospatial mapping identified a few areas of considerable ecological risk. © 2022,Carpathian Journal of Earth and Environmental Sciences. All Rights Reserved.

Solid-phase extraction (SPE) of eleven ultraviolet filters (UVFs): benzophenone-1 (BP-1); benzophenone-3 (BP-3); benzophenone-4 (BP-4); isoamyl p-methoxycinnamate (IAMC), homosalate (HMS); 4-hydroxybenzophenone (4-HB); 4-methylbenzylidene camphor (4-MBC); octocrylene (OC); octyl dimethyl-p-aminobenzoate (OD-PABA); 2-ethylhexyl-4-methoxycinnamate (EHMC); and avobenzone (AVO), has been optimized using Plackett-Burman design, Box-Behnken design, and Derrindzer desirability function. Of the six SPE variables studied, the most influencing is the type of eluent followed by pH and the methanol content in the rinsing solvent. A method with good analytical performance was obtained by applying optimal SPE conditions and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), with the method detection limit ranging from 0.1 to 5 ng/L, recovery from 44% to 99%, and relative standard deviation (RSD) within 19%. This method was used to analyze the content of UVFs in an urban lake (Sava Lake, Serbia). UVFs occurrence, geostatistical distribution, and associated environmental risk are highly dependent on recreational activities. The average concentrations of UVFs ranged from 0.3 to 113 ng/L, and the most present substance was EHMC, followed by 4-MBC and BP-3. The spatial distribution of the risk quotient (RQ = 0.04–1.7) inside the lake is highly correlated with the number of people bathing and swimming. Human exposure through the dermal pathway is higher than ingestion for most UVFs. Monte Carlo simulation of probabilistic risk assessment estimated the percentile P10, P50, P90 of 12.7; 17.3; 47.5 and 20.1; 27.6; 77.5 ng/kg∙day for total human exposure of adults and children, respectively. The sensitivity analysis revealed that the health risk estimate depends mostly on the content of EHMC, HMS, and 4-MBC, while the most influential exposure variables were human body weight and skin surface area. There is no serious concern to human health due to UVFs in the short term; however

The content of twenty-one essential and toxic elements in fresh, dried, and processed peppers (Capsicum annuum) obtained from the Serbian market was analyzed. The concentration of the elements varied significantly between the analyzed samples. The most abundant essential element was K with an average concentration of 8.4 g/kg fresh weight. All processed products also had increased Na content, reaching a maximum value of 15.8 g/kg fresh weight in peppers from the pepper-meat products. Toxic elements Pb, Cd, and As were found in all analyzed samples, while Hg was detected in a few samples. Based on guideline values or recommended dietary intake, pepper and pepper products are not a significant source of essential elements. The health risk assessment was conducted by calculating target hazard quotient (THQ) and carcinogenic risk (CR), as well as comparing estimated weekly (Al, Hg, Cd) and daily intake (As, Pb) with appropriate PTWI and BMDL values. The risk assessment results indicate that peppers and pepper products are mostly safe for consumption both for adults and children. However, consumption of some pepper samples may pose a health risk due to an incremental lifetime cancer risk (ILCR) value higher than 10−4

The content of twenty-one essential and toxic elements in fresh, dried, and processed peppers (Capsicum annuum) obtained from the Serbian market was analyzed. The concentration of the elements varied significantly between the analyzed samples. The most abundant essential element was K with an average concentration of 8.4 g/kg fresh weight. All processed products also had increased Na content, reaching a maximum value of 15.8 g/kg fresh weight in peppers from the pepper-meat products. Toxic elements Pb, Cd, and As were found in all analyzed samples, while Hg was detected in a few samples. Based on guideline values or recommended dietary intake, pepper and pepper products are not a significant source of essential elements. The health risk assessment was conducted by calculating target hazard quotient (THQ) and carcinogenic risk (CR), as well as comparing estimated weekly (Al, Hg, Cd) and daily intake (As, Pb) with appropriate PTWI and BMDL values. The risk assessment results indicate that peppers and pepper products are mostly safe for consumption both for adults and children. However, consumption of some pepper samples may pose a health risk due to an incremental lifetime cancer risk (ILCR) value higher than 10−4