Abstract

This research focuses on the heavy metal contamination of the paddy soils and rice from Kocˇani Field (eastern Macedonia) resulting from irrigation by riverine water impacted by past and present base-metal mining activities and acid mine drainage. Very high concentrations of As, Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn were found in the paddy soils (47.6, 6.4, 99, 983 and 1,245 lg g-1 ) and the rice (0.53, 0.31, 5.8, 0.5 and 67 lg g-1 ) in the western part of Kocˇani Field, close to the Zletovska River, which drains the mining facilities of the Pb–Zn mine in Zletovo. In terms of health risk, the observed highest concentrations of these elements in the rice could have an effect on human health and should be the subject of further investigations.