Human Risk Assessment Based on the Content of Inorganic and Organic Pollutants in Sarajevo’s Playgrounds Aida Šapčanin 1(&) , Ekrem Pehlić 2 , Mirsada Salihović 1 , and Alisa Smajović 1 1 Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Sarajevo, Zmaja od Bosne 8, 71 000 Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina ida@bih.net.ba 2 Faculty of Health Studies, University of Bihać, Bihać, Bosnia and Herzegovina Abstract. Soil is an important part of ecosystem actively involved in the nat- ural cycle of substances, so it is necessary to investigate the content of pollutants and to establish preventive activities on this basis in order to reduce soil pol- lution, and thus preserving the flora and fauna, as well as human health. The main objective of this study was the human risk assessment based on the content of inorganic and organic polutants in the soil of children playgrounds. The contents of inorganic pollutants such as Cd, Pb, Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, Co, Se and As, and organic pollutants such as naphtalene, fluoranthene and benzo(a)pyrene have been measured in Sarajevo’s playgrounds soil and the HQ and HI have been calculated. Risk characterization relevant for the present investigation comprises calculations of non-carcinogenic risk for ingestion and inhalation of soil. Our results suggest that children are at higher risks than the adults due to their contact with potentially polluted soil. Keywords: Soil Á Inorganic pollutants Á Organic polutants Á Playgrounds Á Health risk assessment 1 Introduction The risk assessment is a multistep procedure that comprises the following: data col- lection, exposure assessment, toxicity assessment and risk characterisation. A non- cancerogenic impact of particular elements is assessed by calculating the hazard coef ficient (HQ) and hazard Index (HI) [1–3]. The commonly used chemical risk assessment paradigm entails identification and characterisation of a chemical hazard, which is then compared with an estimate of human exposure to the chemical, in order to assess the risk posed. Risk assessment becomes more complex when it is necessary to assess mixtures of similar chemicals, such as the PAHs since the hazard, mechanism of toxicity and potency may vary between chemicals. Despite the numerous studies attempting to quantify exposure factors relevant to a risk assessment for children during playing activities, there is a significant variability in their numerical results reflecting the dif ficulties involved [3–7]. Besides, some of these factors, like exposure frequency, cannot be directly extrapolated from one scientific study to another since playing habits © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020 I. Karabegović (Ed.): NT 2020, LNNS 128, pp. 779–785, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-46817-0_88