Heavy metal contamination of topsoil around a lead and zinc smelter in Kosovska Mitrovica/Mitrovicë, Kosovo/Kosovë

•The spatial distribution of elements in soil at former Pb―Zn mines and smelter.•ICP-MS was applied for the determination of 36 elements.•With FA, one anthropogenic and four geogenic associations have been isolated.•The data were interpolated by using a GIS universal kriging technique.•The intervention values of Pb, Zn, As, Hg, and Cu are exceeded in 152 km2.

The results of a study on the spatial distribution of different elements in surface soil (0–5 cm) in the former Pb―Zn mining Kosovska Mitrovica/Mitrovicë region, in Kosovo are reported. It proved very difficult to organise this geochemical investigation, because of the complex political situation and issues related to the two main ethnic groups. The investigated area (301.5 km2) was covered by a sampling grid of 1.4 × 1.4 km. Soil samples were collected from 156 sampling sites. Inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) was used to determine 36 elements (Ag, Al, As, Au, B, Ba, Bi, Ca, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Ga, Hg, K, La, Mg, Mn, Mo, Na, Ni, P, Pb, S, Sb, Sc, Se, Sr, Th, Ti, Tl, U, V, W and Zn). Parametric and non-parametric statistical methods were used to evaluate the data, and factor analysis was employed to reduce the number of variables to five factors. The data were interpolated by using a GIS universal kriging technique; maps for particular elements, as well as for factor score values in topsoil, were constructed. Elements such as Ag, Pb, Sb, Bi, Zn, Cd, As, Cu, Hg, Au, Tl and Mo in soil samples appeared as an anthropogenic association due to the Pb―Zn ore mining and processing activities. In the investigated area, the average content of Pb in soil is 20-fold higher than the European median; Cd 11-fold, Hg 5.5-fold, As 4.6-fold, Zn 4.2 and Cu 3.2-fold higher. In the narrower vicinity of K. Mitrovica/Mitrovicë and Zvečan/Zveçan, the content of the aforementioned elements is even higher than the intervention values, according to the New Dutch list, and were exceeded in 152 km2 of the investigated area.