Using moss and lichens in biomonitoring of heavy-metal contamination of forest areas in southern and north-eastern Poland.
Abstract In the years 2014–2016 biomonitoring studies were conducted in the forest areas of south and north-eastern Poland: the Karkonosze Mountains, the Beskidy Mountains, the Borecka Forest, the Knyszynska Forest and the Bialowieska Forest. This study used epigeic moss Pleurozium schreberi and epiphytic lichens Hypogymnia physodes. Samples were collected in spring, summer and autumn. Approximately 500 samples of moss and lichens were collected for the study. In the samples, Mn, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd, Hg and Pb concentrations were determined. Based on the obtained results, the studied areas were ranked by extent of heavy-metal deposition: Beskidy > Karkonosze Mountains > forests of north-eastern …
The Climate Change Crisis?
Abstract A necessary (though probably not sufficient) condition for creativity in the sciences and the arts to flourish is a liberal/democratic socio-political environment. In Europe this was manifested in the Enlightenment as Galileo, Copernicus and others laid the foundations for the evidence-based natural philosophy which signaled the birth of “The Enlightenment”. The importance of intellectual and personal freedom for humanitarian advance is clearly manifested in the exponential success of the sciences in conquering many humanitarian problems from starvation and disease to the more obvious technologies that make modern life relatively pleasant for many - especially in the developed worl…
Elementary steps in heterogeneous catalysis: The basis for environmental chemistry
Abstract Catalysis is an alternative way for reaching an immediate formation of a product, because of a lower energy barrier (between the molecules and the catalysts). Heterogeneous catalysis comprises the acceleration of a chemical reaction through interaction of the molecules involved with the surface of a solid. It is a discipline, which involves all the different aspects of chemistry: inorganic and analytical chemistry in order to characterize the catalysts and the forms of these catalysts. The industrial chemistry puts all these things together to understand the solid chemical handling, chemical reaction and energy engineering and the heat and mass transfer in these catalytic processes…
The Origin of Heavy Metals and Radionuclides Accumulated in the Soil and Biota Samples Collected in Svalbard, Near Longyearbyen
Abstract Heavy metals and radioactive compounds are potentially hazardous substances for plants, animals and humans in the Arctic. A good knowledge of the spatial variation of these substances in soil and primary producers, and their sources, is therefore essential. In the samples of lichen Thamnolia vermicularis, Salix polaris and Cassiope tetragona, and the soil samples collected in 2014 in Svalbard near Longyearbyen, the concentrations of the following heavy metals were determined: Mn, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd, Pb and Hg, as well as the activity concentrations of the following: K-40, Cs-137, Pb-210, Pb-212, Bi-212, Bi-214, Pb-214, Ac-228, Th-231 and U-235 in the soil samples. The differences in th…
The use of mosses in biomonitoring of selected areas in Poland and Spitsbergen in the years from 1975 to 2014
We have compared historical changes in concentrations of the heavy metals Mn, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd and Pb accumulated in samples from the Polish woodlands of Beskidy and Karkonosze (S, SE Poland) and the north-east regions of the country, versus the relatively little polluted areas of Spitsbergen of the Svalbard Archipelago. We have combined the results from literature with new results from 2014. The regions of Beskidy and Karkonosze were the most exposed to heavy metals deposition. However, from 1975 to 2014 there was a considerable decrease of concentrations of Cu, Zn, Cd and Pb at all Polish sites, clearly signifying improvement of environmental quality. For example, the average Cd concentrati…