Search results for "POLAND"
showing 10 items of 438 documents
The Moss Biomonitoring Method and Neutron Activation Analysis in Assessing Pollution by Trace Elements in Selected Polish National Parks
2020
The concentrations of trace elements in feather moss Pleurozium schreberi (Brid.) Mitt. were used to indicate the relative levels of air pollution by trace elements in Polish national parks. Pleurozium schreberi was collected from nine national parks. The highest concentrations were recorded in the moss samples from the southern and most industrialised part of the country; the lowest from northern and north-eastern Poland. A comparison of data obtained from Polish national parks in the 1970s and 1990s showed a significant decrease in the concentrations of heavy metals. In the linear covariability estimation, the t quantile approach was used for multi-element comparison. A number of positive…
Effect of deicing salts on urban soils and health status of roadside trees in the Opole region.
2004
This article reports on a study whose aim was to evaluate the impact of snow removal salts on urban soil properties and the health of roadside trees. The evaluation was done by chemical analyses of soil samples and plant matter combined with toxicity testing, performed with a Protoxkit F, a protozoan microbiotest. Samples were collected at 45 locations on three main roads in the town of Opole (Poland). The roads differed in the snow removal technology and amount of chemical substances (mostly NaCI) used on them during the winter. The study showed that when soil was exposed to a high level of NaCI, it tended to be more alkaline and also exhibited increased content of Na + and Cl - . The toxi…
Data quality oriented procedure, for detailed mapping of heavy metals in urban topsoil as an approach to human health risk assessment
2021
Abstract Urban soils' health is important to the community because of the soils' potential use for recreational activities. A data quality-oriented approach to sampling design is proposed for performing soil representative surveys that gives support to defensible and statistically-based decisions. Krowoderski park in Cracow (Poland) was selected as a study case to investigate heavy metals (HMs) accumulation and to assess human risk exposure according to simulated scenarios. Statistical power was computed for optimizing the number of samples to compare HMs concentration against legal upper tolerance levels (LUTL). The samples' location was iteratively designed as random spatial distribution …
The influence of preparation methodology on the concentrations of heavy metals in Pleurozium schreberi moss samples prior to use in active biomonitor…
2020
AbstractActive biomonitoring is used to assess environmental pollution of elements such as heavy metals by indicator species such as mosses. They are used, among others, in urbanized areas where no indicator species are found. In such study areas, mosses collected from sites considered to be ecologically clean shall be exposed. In this context, it is very important to prepare the mosses properly before the exposure, so that the information received about the condition of the environment is reliable. In 2018, studies were conducted in the forested areas of southern Poland—in Opolskie Province. Pleurozium schreberi mosses were used in these studies. Atomic absorption spectrometry with flame a…
Algae utilization in assessment of the large Turawa Lake (Poland) pollution with heavy metals.
2011
This investigation was undertaken to determine the applicability of algae for the assessment of contamination level of water reservoirs with heavy metals. The alga Spirogyra sp. collected in the littoral zone of the Large Turawa Lake (artificial lake in Southern Poland) was used for the study. The concentrations of heavy metals accumulated in the alga inhabiting a flow-through water basin of the Large Turawa Lake were found to correlate with sources of these metals, such as benthic sediments and contaminated watercourses. The highest concentrations of metals were found in alga samples collected at the outlet of the lake: c (Mn) = 12330 mg/kg dry mass, c (Fe) = 15059 mg/kg d.m., c (Cu) = 47.…
Trace elements in native and transplanted Fontinalis antipyretica and Platyhypnidium riparioides from rivers polluted by uranium mining.
2017
The past uranium/polymetallic mining activities in the Sudety (SW Poland) left abandoned mines, pits, and dumps of waste rocks with trace elements and radionuclides which may erode or leach out and create a potential risk for the aquatic ecosystem, among others. In the present work four rivers affected by effluents from such mines were selected to evaluate the application of aquatic mosses for the bioindication of 56 elements. Naturally growing F. antipyretica and P. riparioides were compared with transplanted samples of the same species. The results demonstrate serious pollution of the examined rivers, especially with As, Ba, Fe, Mn, Pb, Ti, U and Zn, reaching extremely high concentrations…
Assessment of the possibility of using deciduous tree bark as a biomonitor of heavy metal pollution of atmospheric aerosol
2019
The aim of the research was to assess the possibility to use deciduous tree bark in the biomonitoring of urban areas. The tree bark taken from various deciduous tree species growing in the Opole Province (south-western Poland) was used for the research. The bark was collected from tree trunks in the period of June 2–26, 2017. Concentrations of the heavy metals were determined in the barks by flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS). On the basis of the research, it was determined that type of tree, distance from pollution source, elevation off the ground and the side of trunk from which bark was sampled all influence the research results. A comparison of the values of coefficient of vari…
Characteristics of current roadside pollution using test-monitoring plots
2014
Abstract The aim of the study was the qualitative recognition of the existing roadside pollutants deposited in topsoils located close to roads with high traffic volume. So far, the studies have helped to determine the content of pollutants that accumulated over a long period of time. Traditionally, it has been difficult to distinguish between roadside pollution and pollution from other industrial sources. In order to avoid such problems and to accurately recognize present threats originating from road traffic, test-monitoring plots were installed in Poland (Gliwice and Opole), Germany (Tubingen, Ulm and Boblingen), Finland (Helsinki), Tajikistan (Dushanbe) and China (Lanzhou). To install th…
Władze RP na uchodźstwie wobec sytuacji w Polsce w latach 1971–1975
2019
The article presents opinions and assessments o f the Polish authorities in exile (the president and the govemment) on the situation o f Poland in the first half of the 70s. The emigration authorities were absolutely against the inhuman actions during the December 1970 workers’ rebellion. The “Polish” London, lacking in information from the country, wrote about hundreds o f people killed and wounded. They were also pointing to the tragic economic situation o f Poland and the economic exploitation by the USSR. Emigration representatives o f the political elites idealised the attitude o f fellow citizens in Poland. In the opinion o f emigrants, the country remained in resistance to the impose…
Szukając wolności: Sprawa kapitana m/s "Batory" Jana Ćwiklińskiego
2014
After WWII the Polish ocean liner “Batory” operated on the route Gdynia–New York, and from 1951 to India. The captain of the ship was Jan Ćwikliński. The Ministry for Public Security accused him of having a hostile attitude towards the People’s Republic of Poland and insisted on him being removed from his position as Batory captain. In the spring of 1953 the ship underwent a technical check-up at a shipyard in Great Britain. In the mean-time it was rumoured that the captain was to be arrested upon his return to Poland on suspicion of espionage. When the renovation works were about to be completed, Ćwikliński decided to escape and left his ship for good. The captain was given political asylu…