ENVIRONMENTAL RISK FROM THE CONTAMINATION OF GROUNDWATER WITH TOXIC ELEMENTS IN THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC AND BRATISLAVA REGION
Tomáš SCHMIDT1*, Tatiana HARCINÍKOVÁ1, Alexandra BENOVÁ1, Richard FECISKANIN1, Radoslav CHUDÝ1, Martin IRING1, Miroslav KOŽUCH1, Eva MIČIETOVÁ1, Jerguš MORAVČÍK1, Vladimír PELECH1, Hana STANKOVÁ1 & Juraj VALIŠ1
1Department of Cartography, Geoinformatics and Remote Sensing, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University in Bratislava, Mlynská dolina, Ilkovičova 6, 842 15 Bratislava 4, Slovak Republic, email: schmidt@fns.uniba.sk, harcinikova@fns.uniba.sk, benova@fns.uniba.sk, feciskanin@fns.uniba.sk, chudy@fns.uniba.sk, iring@fns.uniba.sk, kozuch@fns.uniba.sk, eva.micietova@fns.uniba.sk, moravcik@fns.uniba.sk, pelechv@fns.uniba.sk, stankova@fns.uniba.sk, valis@fns.uniba.sk
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Abstract
The presented research aims for identification of environmental risk resulting from the contamination of groundwater with toxic elements in Slovakia, and with special focus on the region of the capital of Slovakia, Bratislava. Analyses were carried out at the level of basic settlement units for the chemical elements arsenic, lead, mercury, and cadmium. Every investigated element in groundwater exceeds the legislatively given limit value in certain locations. The highest identified values of investigated elements are as follows: arsenic 4.9 mg/l, lead 0.27 mg/l, mercury 0.164 mg/l and cadmium 4.0 mg/l. We carried out analysis of spatial patterns of distribution of the individual elements and calculated the overall environmental risk of all elements combined expressed by an environmental risk index. Only slightly more than 1% of the area of the Slovak Republic lies within the zones of very high environmental risk index, with additional less than 2% within the zones of high environmental risk index. Although the area is relatively small, we cannot underestimate the possible risk to human health, especially when the high and very high risk zones are in populated areas.
Keywords:
- environmental
- risk
- toxic
- element
- groundwater
- Slovakia
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© 2017 by the author(s). Licensee CJEES, Carpathian Association of Environment and Earth Sciences. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
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Tomáš SCHMIDT, Tatiana HARCINÍKOVÁ, Alexandra BENOVÁ, Richard FECISKANIN, Radoslav CHUDÝ, Martin IRING, Miroslav KOŽUCH, Eva MIČIETOVÁ, Jerguš MORAVČÍK, Vladimír PELECH, Hana STANKOVÁ & Juraj VALIŠ (2017). ENVIRONMENTAL RISK FROM THE CONTAMINATION OF GROUNDWATER WITH TOXIC ELEMENTS IN THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC AND BRATISLAVA REGION
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