During the last few years, we have witnessed more frequent floods affecting the northeastern part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the valley of the Spreca River. Flooded soil has undergone various changes, in terms of numerous deficiencies and heavy metal contamination, where such soil represents a great danger both for people and animals. Therefore, in this paper the physicochemical analysis of soil and degree of pollution is determined. The aim of soil sampling and analysis is to determine its status after water withdrawal, in terms of nutrient supply, and to determine possible chemical pollution. Based on the results obtained, agricultural producers will receive recommendations regarding restoration of production on these areas, the choice of cultivated culture, corrective measures or remediation of these areas. As part of the analysis, hygroscopic moisture, acid-base soil status, oxidoreduction potential, organic matter content, carbonate content and heavy metals content were determined. Based on the performed analyzes, the soil was shown to be of neutral character (determined in 1M KCl), and weakly alkaline (determined in distilled H2O) with predominantly reducing condition prevailing in the soil. The conducted analyzes have shown that the soil is very poor in humus, and that the heavy metals content is within the limit values determined by the Rulebook on Determination of Allowed Quantities of Harmful and Dangerous Substances in Soil and Method of Testing there of (“Official Gazette of Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina”, number 52/09). Therefore, from the aspect of the pollution degree, the soil from this plot belongs to the first class when it comes to iron, manganese, cadmium and lead, to the second class when it comes to zinc, and the third class when it comes to copper.

The aim of this study was to estimate dietary intake of nitrite in meat products. The content of nitrite in various categories of meat products that are on the market of Tuzla Canton. Data on concentrations of nitrite are associated with individual data on food consumption. The study included 200 respondents, aged 19 years and over. Dietary intake of nitrite was estimated by semi-quantitative questionnaire that included questions about the frequency and quantity consumed of certain types of meat products. To estimate the intake, combined data on the average concentration of nitrite in meat products and information on individual consumption. The average concentrations of nitrite in meat products analyzed samples was 7.44 mg/kg (range 0.6 to 23.59 mg/kg). Respondents consume certain types of meat products by an average 52 days/year, and the average daily amount of all types of meat products consumed was 168.92 g per day (per individual categories of meat products is between 15.29 to 22.27 g). Determined the average daily intake of nitrite from meat products is low and amounts to 13.41% compared to the acceptable daily intake (ADI) (for certain categories of meat products ranged from 0.02 to 0.9% of the ADI). The results suggest that a daily intake of nitrite in meat products by the population of the limits of acceptable daily intake, and exposure to nitrites in meat products in the study population does not represent a risk to health.

The aim of this research was to determine the residual levels of pesticides in citrus fruits, to assess the exposure and to determine the acute risk to consumers. In this work, eight pesticides: azinphos-ethyl, carbofuran, chlorfenvinphos, chlorpyrifos, metazachlor, methoxychlor, propham and sulfotep were analysed in 23 samples of citrus fruits, taken from the market of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Analyses were carried out by the QuEChERS approach developed for pesticide residue analysis in food, using gas chromatography with mass spectrometry detection. To determine the risk, acute exposure assessment was performed according on International Estimation of Short Term Intake (IESTI) equations. In quantitative acute risk assessment, estimated dietary exposure was compared with the toxicological reference values Acute Reference Dose (ARfD). In four samples of oranges the levels of pesticide residues were below detectable limit, in six samples determined levels of pesticide residues were at or below the MRL, while in one sample level of pesticide residues exceeded MRL. In six samples of grapefruits the levels of pesticide residues were below detectable limit, in five samples determined levels of pesticide residues were at or below the MRL, while in one sample level of pesticide residues exceeded MRL. In one sample of grapefruit where the level of chlorpyrifos residue of 0.61 mg/kg was found above MRL, an acute exposure risk assessment was performed and there was not a risk for health of adults and children, because the value of the calculated dietary intake was below the ARfD.

The content of the some ingredients, such as proteins, ash, etc. is important in food products, either they are present in raw materials or in final products. As wheat is also very important food raw material, and flour as the fi nal product of milling, it is important to know their specific physical – chemical properties. The importance of knowing the physical and chemical properties of wheat and flour is due to the determination of quality and kind of fl our which is produced after milling process. In this work, some physical – chemical properties are determined and some comparations of characteristics were performed in both wheat and flour. Characteristics that were observed in this work are moisture content, ash content, protein content, Zeleny sedimentation value, gluten content and water adsorption values. On the base of results obtained in this work, some conclusions are made that could be useful for milling industry.

A new, selective and accurate direct ultraviolet spectrophotometric method was developed for the determination of L-ascorbic acid in pharmaceuticals. The oxidation of L-ascorbic acid by iodate in an acidic medium was used as a means of correcting for background absorption. The molar absorptivity of the proposed method was found to be 8.71x103 dm3 mol-1 cm-1 at 250 nm. Beer’s law was obeyed in the concentration range of 0.46 – 16.00 μg cm-3 for L-ascorbic acid. The relative standard deviation was 0.67 % for a concentration of 8.00 μg cm-3 of ascorbic acid (n = 7). The ingredients commonly found in vitamin C and multivitamin products did not interfere. The proposed procedure was successfully applied to assays of L-ascorbic acid in pharmaceutical preparations. The results obtained with the proposed method showed good agreement with those given by the titrimetric method using iodine.

This work is aimed to present the forms of lead in soil taking in the account its' acid and basic conditions. Different forms of heavy metals in soil could have a negative impact on plants and human beings, particularly if they present in higher concentrations than maximum allowed. Various soil conditions cause the different bioavailability of some forms of heavy metals to plants. This paper considers the bioavailability of lead to some plants in acid and basic soil conditions using computer software and comparing results to those obtained by experiment in the laboratory. Obtained results in this work could be used to predict the behavior of heavy metals in different soil conditions, particularly those that are present in very small concentrations, such as lead, cadmium, etc.