No abstract

Studies showed that anthropogenic activities are the main source of metal contamination in the environment. Environment can get polluted or contaminated by different organic, inorganic and heavy metals substances. Heavy metal toxicity disrupts natural ecosystems and affects the food chain and different living organisms leading to different health problems. Once metals are introduced into the environment, they undergo several biological and chemical processes that lead to their distribution in environmental compartments such soils, sediments, water etc, [1-2].The Kishnica mines are part of the industrial complex of Trepça, located in the northeastern part of Kosovo, in the Graçanica municipality area, just a couple of kilometers away from capital city, Prishtina. These mines, with their production capacities, discharge large amounts of waste into the environment because ore is only a small fraction of the total volume of processed material, around 30% for Pb residuals, and 50 % for residual waste Zn, which is the remnant of the mineralization process at the Kishnica flotation. The Kishnica mineral mines are considered as one of the most important Pb-Zn deposits in the mining area in Kosovo.

No abstract

Abstract. The presence of contaminants in water is a very serious environmental issue. In order to overcome this problem, the present paper is dedicated to the development and evaluation of the efficiency of materials derived from orange peels toward the removal of dissolved organic molecules from aqueous solutions. UV-VIS spectroscopy was used for the evaluation of the methylene blue (MB) before and after the sorption process. The analysis of the performance of these materials is done by comparing their sorption efficiency with the derived materials from orange peels, directly or with acid-treated ones. Furthermore, the results were compared with activated carbon, which is a well-known material with high sorption performance. The study also involved the evaluation of different conditions (concentration, stirring, adsorption time, etc.) in the sorption efficiency of this molecule. The results show that the material derived from orange peel has very good adsorption properties, making it a serious candidate toward practical applications in wastewater treatment.

Pollution of water and sediments with metals is one of the most serious environmental problems, and human activities have the potential to significantly alter the physical-chemical properties of aquatic sediments and water sources, including in the Drini i Bardhë river basin. [1][2]. The accumulation of heavy metals in excess of environmental standards can result in environmental and human health problems [3][4]. Characterization of metals in rivers, lakes, fish, and sediments has been a prominent focus of environmental research in recent decades [5].Bottom sediments in aquatic habitats provide insight into the processes and mechanisms that occur in aquatic ecosystems [6][7]. Hydrological cycles, physicalchemical processes and intricate spatiotemporal variation all contribute to the remobilization of heavy