Abstract
Qualitative analyses of water from the River Danube were conducted to determine changes in the concentrations of heavy metals during the period 1985 to 1987. The samples were collected from a locality situated on the right bank of the river at the village of Vinča. The heavy metals Pb, Cd, Zn, Cu, Fe, Mn, As, Ni, and Hg were found to be constantly present in the river water, whereas Cr3+ and Cr6+ were not detected. It was found that the tendency for levels of these heavy metals to increase had ceased. The number of samples containing major ecotoxic elements (Pb, Cd, and Hg) was reduced, and a slight improvement was also recorded with regard to the other heavy metals, with the exception of Zn.