Exceedance of air quality standards resulting from pyro-metallurgical production of copper: a case study, Bor (Eastern Serbia)

This study represents air quality data of SO₂ and As concentrations around the mining–metallurgical complex Bor (Serbia) from 1994 to 2008. Daily and annual SO₂ concentrations greatly exceed current air quality standards in the studied area. The “hot spot” with the highest SO₂ and As annual concentrations during 15 years was the urban-industrial area (the town core). Daily SO₂ concentrations and meteorological parameters during the period from 2005 to 2008 were statistically analysed to develop suitable prediction equations for daily SO₂ concentrations. Anode copper production is an important but not the only factor that has influence on SO₂ concentrations. By stepwise multiple linear regression analysis, it was determined that daily SO₂ concentrations are most influenced by maximum wind gust, relative humidity and air temperature at all the measuring sites. The prediction equations of daily SO₂ concentrations represent a good model with regression coefficients from 0.854 to 0.926 at all the measuring sites. Correlation analysis showed that eastern and western winds increase SO₂ concentrations, thus increasing the health risk of the inhabitants in the study area.