# Risk Elements in Total Suspended Particles in Areas Affected by Opencast Mining of Brown Coal
## 4 Conclusions  
To summarize the main findings of this research, the investigation of deposited TSP and TSP-associated risk elements areas affected by multiple sources of environmental pollution clearly documented the complexity of the environmental risks in such areas. Despite high variability in the data, seasonal effects were evident and confirmed, indicating the predominant role of brown coal mining as the main source of TSP and TSP-associated risk elements. PM deposition in the area increases in spring, likely due to intensified coal mining activities in the opencast coal mine. However, for a detailed understanding of the input of risk elements into the soils, further research should incorporate mathematical models that consider both inputs and outputs of these risk elements, as proposed by [PERSON] et al. (2017) in their pollution increment model. Health risk assessment indicated elevated oral ADD levels, especially for children, but HQ levels did not show serious human health risks. Arsenic and Pb were identified as the most hazardous elements. However, estimations based on total element contents in the investigated media could lead to overestimated conclusions, and we propose the use of bioaccessible proportions of elements for more accurate human health risk assessment. Generally, the improvement of the air pollution in the North Bohemian area is possible only with further reduction in coal mining and following restoration of the whole area. However, the area is among those with the highest unemployment and lowest education levels compared to other parts of the Czech Republic, and even occurrence of the settle \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c} \hline \hline  & **Spring** & **Summer** & **Autumn** & **Winter** \\ \hline  & & As & & \\ \hline min & 0.028 & 0.042 & 0.025 & 0.053 \\ max & 0.183 & 0.226 & 0.121 & 0.176 \\ median & 0.044 & 0.057 & 0.060 & 0.111 \\ \hline  & & Cd & & \\ \hline min & 0.005 & 0.006 & 0.006 & 0.006 \\ max & 0.018 & 0.022 & 0.016 & 0.025 \\ median & 0.010 & 0.015 & 0.008 & 0.013 \\ \hline  & & Cr & & \\ \hline min & 0.009 & 0.007 & 0.003 & 0.006 \\ max & 0.038 & 0.035 & 0.015 & 0.031 \\ median & 0.020 & 0.019 & 0.007 & 0.012 \\ \hline  & & Cu & & \\ \hline min & 0.001 & 0.001 & 0.001 & 0.002 \\ max & 0.004 & 0.005 & 0.005 & 0.005 \\ median & 0.002 & 0.003 & 0.002 & 0.003 \\ \hline  & & Pb & & \\ \hline min & 0.055 & 0.089 & 0.045 & 0.101 \\ max & 0.205 & 0.247 & 0.186 & 0.275 \\ median & 0.113 & 0.135 & 0.123 & 0.159 \\ \hline  & & Zn & & \\ \hline min & 0.001 & 0.002 & 0.001 & 0.002 \\ max & 0.011 & 0.009 & 0.019 & 0.023 \\ median & 0.002 & 0.003 & 0.003 & 0.005 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 3: The hazard quotient (HQ) levels for selected elements contained in the suspended particles. ments of the socially excluded people. According to a recent analysis by [PERSON] et al. [64], an increase in the per capita education level and per capita income will result in an improvement in public health. These people are more interested in their own health status and consequently will be more interested in the restoration of the environment and reducing pollution in the whole area. Thus, the improvement of the investigated area will require a comprehensive approach, and will be a long-term and difficult process. The following supporting information can be downloaded at: [[https://www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/app14167229/s1](https://www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/app14167229/s1)]([https://www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/app14167229/s1](https://www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/app14167229/s1)), Table S1: Estimated reference doses (RfDs) for the oral uptake of selected risk elements; Table S2: The amount of TSP and element contents in TSP according to the investigated areas. Table S3: Spearman's \(\rho\) correlation coefficients of the interrelationships among the risk element contents in the suspended particles (TSPs). Figure S1.