# Risk Elements in Total Suspended Particles in Areas Affected by Opencast Mining of Brown Coal
## 3 Results and Discussion  
### Element Contents in the Deposited TSP  
Figure 1 summarizes the deposition of TSPs in the area of interest, where a high variability of results was observed at the individual sampling points. No significant (\(p>0.05\)) differences were observed among the sampling points or the years of the sampling (Figure 1a,b). Therefore, the results indicated no apparent hotspot of TSP deposition in the investigated area and no visible trend in TSP deposition over the sampling time. Despite variability in deposition among individual sampling points, the results indicate comparable deposition of dust particles across the entire sampling area. As documented by Supplementary Table S2, no significant (\(p<0.05\)) differences were found between the two sampling locations, the cities Sokolov and Litvinov. However, the results also showed significant (\(p<0.05\)) differences in TSP deposition among the seasons of the year (Figure 1c), with the highest values recorded in spring (March-May), followed by summer (June-August), and the lowest in autumn (September-November) and winter (December-February). The differences in TSP deposition rate in the individual seasons of the year depend on the sources of TSPs in the specific areas. Higher pollution levels and, therefore, higher carcinogenic risks in urban areas were observed by [PERSON] et al. [24] during the winter season. Additionally, the authors noted a seasonal variation in the PM size distribution, with a higher concentration of fine particles observed during the winter season, likely due to increased combustion processes [40]. In contrast, [PERSON] et al. [41] observed significant seasonal changes in PM deposition in a mining area but showed a comparable particle size distribution. In their study, increased mining activities in summer resulted in higher concentrations of PM\({}_{10}\) and PM\({}_{2.5}\) during these months. As mentioned above, the entire environment of the sampling area is adversely affected by opencast brown coal mining and processing [25]. Although in this study the TSP was not separated according to size, the deposition pattern was similar to the results published by [PERSON] et al. [41], where mining activities were found to be responsible for the enhanced PM release during the spring and summer months. The industrial area of Ostrava city, in the North Moravian-Silesian region, is among the most polluted areas in the Czech Republic. The industrial area of this city is characterized by extensive metallurgical and mining activities, with black and brown coal combustion as well as metallurgical activities proving to be the two main sources of the massive pollution in the area [42; 43]. In the North Bohemian areas, there is an absence of large metallurgical facilities. Therefore, the predominant role of coal mining and processing in the pollution of the environment in these areas seems indisputable. To curb this situation, various practices  
Figure 1: The amount of total suspended particles according to the individual sampling point (**a**), sampling year (**b**), and season of the year (**c**); the boxes marked by the same letter did not significantly differ at \(p<0.05\). such as wetting have been developed with the aim of substantially reducing dust released during coal mining operations [44; 45]. These methods were developed to improve working conditions in the underground mines. Water spraying to reduce the release of dust is also applied in the opencast coal mines [46]. However, only a reduction in coal-based electricity production can lead to a substantial reduction in coal mining-derived TSP in the investigated areas. From the findings of this study, the amount of deposited TSPs corresponded to the measured concentration of elements in the particulate matter (Figures 2-11). The order of element concentrations in the deposited TSP, from highest to lowest, was Zn and Mn, followed by Cu, Cr, V, Pb, As, Be, Co, and Cd.