The Challenges of Increasing the Copper Smelter Capacity on Ambient Air Quality in Bor (Serbia)

摘要

The paper presents the average daily and annual concentrations of SO_2 and PM_(10), as well as the content of heavy metals in PM_(10) (As, Pb, Cd, Ni) in ambient air in Bor (Serbia). Data on pollutant concentrations were collected using seven monitoring stations located in the urban part of the city for the period 2014-2020. The results have shown that the annual concentrations of SO_2 exceeded the limits prescribed by Serbian legislation and WHO during the entire study period. The situation was the same regarding annual PM_(10) and heavy metals concentrations. Additional analysis was performed using only data on pollutant concentrations measured in August during the observed period when there was no heating, and the frequency of traffic was reduced due to the holiday season, so the dominant source of air pollution was a copper smelter located in the close vicinity. The PROMETHEE/GAIA method was used to compare the pollution levels recorded in each year of the observation period. The findings suggested that the lowest pollution was recorded in 2016, while the highest was in 2017.