Abstract
The mining and burning of Croatian Raša coal had resulted in release of various contaminants into the local environment. They have remained in the local soil, water, and plants, and became available to animals through their consumption. In this study, tissue samples from a total of 12 birds from the Raša area and 8 birds from a control area were subjected to multi-element analysis (Al, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Cu, Zn, As, Se, Mo, Cd, Pb) by ICP-MS. The obtained results showed increased Se and Cd concentrations in some bird tissue samples compared to the control area. The highest concentrations of Cu, Zn, and Se were found in the liver, while the highest concentrations of Cd and Pb were found in the kidneys. Although some hazardous trace elements were elevated in the tissues of game species, the risk of consuming meat and offal of such species has been found to be very low.
Highlights
Coal is a type of fossil fuel formed by a combination of biological, chemical, and physical decomposition of accumulated plant and animal remains during the geological past
hazardous trace elements (HTEs) such as Se, Cu, Zn, Cd, and Pb were analysed in the tissues of four bird species from the Raša coal area and the control site near Rovinj city
Selenium concentrations in the muscles and liver of birds from the Raša area were found to be elevated compared to bird samples from the control area
Summary
Coal is a type of fossil fuel formed by a combination of biological, chemical, and physical decomposition of accumulated plant and animal remains during the geological past. As a fossil fuel, has the longest tradition of use worldwide Even though it is an important and relatively cheap source of energy, it is impossible to ignore its impact on the environment (Finkelman et al, 2021). It is because coal combustion by-products, i.e. fly and bottom ash, are enriched with hazardous trace elements (HTEs), which are released into the environment by various routes (Saikia et al, 2015a, b). Once these particles reach the water and soil, they become permanently available to the organisms that live there (Prevendar Crnić et al, 2015), and crops and plants (Maqbool et al, 2019; Medunić et al, 2021)
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