Contamination of Environment with the Heavy Metals Emitted from a Cement Factory, Kosovo

Abstract

The environment and its components have been severely contaminated over the years due to massive pollu-tion. The multiple use of heavy metals in industrial, domestic, agricultural, medical and technological ap-plications have led to their wide distribution in the environment. Different studies implied that the primary contribution to the ecological risk index, originated from various anthropogenic influences such as industri-alization and urbanization. This has compromised the ability of the environment to foster life and render its intrinsic values due to the heavy usage of these elements. This research illustrates the assessment of heavy metals in waste, water, sludge and soil. Monitoring was performed in vicinity of a cement factory on the southern Kosovo, where the sampling and measurements were performed in the autumn season of 2018. With the use of atomic absorption spectroscopy technique (AAS), the elements determined in this study were Pb, Zn, Cu, Ni, Fe, Mn, and Al. The findings of this study revealed a little change in the concentrations of these elements in the environment samples, especially in water, apart from that there is slight pollution of the en-vironment with heavy metals in this zone.