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The aim of this study was to estimate the content of trace elements(Zn, Cu, Cr, Cd, Pb) in soils and consumer plants grown under and without the influence of traffic. Thr species such as lettuce, raspberry, beetroot, apple, carrot, chives and onion were selected for the study. The samples were mineralized and the heavy metal content in plants and soils was determined by means of atomic absorption spectrometry. The content of heavy metals in the soil from municipal allotments was higher than in the soil from the Saniki Colony. For both samples, the permissible soil content was not exceeded.The amount of trace elements in plants varied depending on species, but the place of vegetables and fruits origin was also important. Most of trace elements occurred in larger amounts in the plants from allotments, and in smaller amounts in the plants from Saniki Colony.

The aim of the study was to evaluate the available waste in view of the heavy metals and fractions thereof. Three waste materials were analyzed in the work namely dried, granular sludge, digestate from agricultural biogas plant and ash after combustion of biomass from the combined heat and power plant, in terms of the content of heavy metals in them. Also determined their mobility through fractional analysis and assessed the possibilities of their agricultural use. The analyzed waste was varied due to the pH. The highest pH had biomass ashes and it was an alkaline. The dried precipitate due to the pH was neutral and digestate was slightly alkaline. In the analyzed wastes, the content of permissible concentrations of heavy metals determined in the Regulation of the Minister of the Environment was not exceeded. The content of individual elements varied and depends on the type of waste tested. The conducted sequential analysis showed that various metal fractions are present in the tested wastes. The content of heavy metals in individual factions was varied and the content of mobile and potentially mobile fractions, i.e. metals of fractions I and II, was lower compared to the non-mobile fractions III and IV.

The study was carried out using water samples from two small retention reservoirs located in the communes: Czarna Białostocka and Turośń Kościelna in Podlaskie Voivodeship. The main tasks of both reservoirs are to improve the water balance by means of regulating the levels and water outflow. Three characteristic measurement and control points were selected on both reservoirs in accordance to the water flow in the longitudinal section. The first and third points were located near the inflow and outflow of water, while the second in the middle of the reservoirs. Samples of water for the study were collected from the surface layer of the shore zone of the reservoirs once a month from March 2015 to February 2017 (water from two hydrological years was analyzed). Water samples were subject to determination of total phosphorus, total nitrogen, and chlorophyll “a” concentrations, as well as turbidity. Contamination of the water reservoirs with biogenic compounds is a common problem and at the same time difficult to eliminate due to the scattered nature of external sources of pollution, especially in the case of agricultural catchments, as well as the inflow of untreated sewage from areas directly adjacent to the reservoirs. Based on achieved results, high values of TSI (TN), TSI (TP), TSI (Chl), and overall TSI, clearly indicate the progressive degradation of water quality in analyzed reservoirs. Appearing water blooms due to the mass development of phytoplankton adversely affect the quality of water in the reservoirs and biochemical processes occurring both in water and bottom sediments, are conditioned by progressive eutrophication.

The aim of study was demonstration of dependence of produced biogas on batch composition as agricultural waste. Research was conducted in biogas power plant Biogas Adler, which was the first agricultural biogas plant built in Podlaskie province. The analysis showed in analyzed biogas production of biogas from waste from agricultural activity, is a good way of their utilization, while producing heat and electricity. Among the three analyzed substrates the highest efficiency of biogas production is characterized by corn silage and manure. Potato pulp significantly reduces the efficiency of biogas production. Independently of the composition and quality of substrates, to produce 1 MWh of the biogas plant consumes approx. 457 m3 of biogas.

The aim of the study was the estimation of total content of lead and its fraction in arable soils and permanent grassland of Podlasie Province, eastern Poland. The research material included 104 soil samples from Podlasie Province, which were collected in years 2011–2013 from the topsoil (0–30 cm) after plant harvest. The following basic physicochemical properties of soil samples were determined: granulometric composition, organic carbon content and pH in 1 mol·dm−3KCl solution. Based on the granulometric composition soils were divided into three groups: very light and light, medium and organic soils. The total lead and its content in fractions was determined by means of GFAAS technique using Varian AA-100 apparatus. The fractions of lead were extracted by BCR method. In the case of very light and light soils the lowest percentage share of Pb on average was noted in exchangeable fraction (16.3% of total content) and the highest in fraction bound to Fe/Mn oxides (43.5%). Similarly in medium and organic soils the highest amount of Pb was stated in reducible fraction, 43.7 and 41.3% of total content, respectively, and the lowest in exchangeable fraction, 16.5 and 12.2%, respectively. It was found that content of total lead was typical for arable uncontaminated soils.

Article describes studies on the trophic status which were carried out using the water samples from the small retention reservoir Topiło located in especially valuable natural forests of Puszcza Białowieska. In order to assess the degree of Topiło reservoir contamination, three measurement and control points were selected for testing, which were situated near the inflow (point No. 1) and outflow (point No. 3) of river Perebel, as well as in the middle part of the reservoir (point No. 2). The selection and placement of measurement and control points on the reservoir was dictated by the ability to capture changes in the study object. Tests of water samples collected from the surface layer of the coastal zone, were carried out once a month during the period from April 2007 to March 2014. The following determinations in collected water samples were performed: total nitrogen, total phosphorus, chlorophyll “a”, and turbidity. The trophic level of Topiło reservoir was also assessed according to the concentration criteria and based on the trophic status indices (TSI) calculated after Carlson’s as well as Kratzer and Brezonik’s. Given the annual average value of overall trophic level (Trophic Status Index), the dominant role of the TSI (TP) during all years of research attracts some attention. The TSI index values ranged within 78.3–80.26, which allowed to classify the water of Topiło reservoir as hypertrophic. The research indicates an advanced and constantly progressive degradation of water quality in Topiło reservoir. Values of TSI (Chl) were in the range of 49.2–77.35 and therefore water status in winter can be defined as eutrophic indicating the hypertrophy in remaining periods under study. Additional investments planned for advance reclamation treatments should be necessarily taken into consideration at the stage of planning and design of new small water retention reservoirs. Topiło reservoir requires modernization and reclamation, it is also necessary to clean it up, especially the bottom pond, out of the stocked wood residues, as well as to remove the excess of sludge.

When analyzing the symptoms of eutrophication and water quality in a small retention reservoir Bachmaty, an attempt to assess changes in its trophic condition before and after modernization, was undertaken. The study upon changes in water trophic level was carried out on a small retention reservoir Bachmaty located in Podlasie region on the Orlanka river in the municipality of Dubicze Cerkiewne. Tests of water samples collected from the surface layer of the coastal zone were performed once a month, and the time of the research was divided into two periods. The first period was conducted since April 2007 to March 2008 and since April 2009 to March 2010. The second research period included the time immediately after the reservoir reclamation, which ended in May 2011. The study was conducted since May 2011 to March 2012 and since April 2013 to March 2014. The trophic level of Bachmaty reservoir was also assessed according to the concentration criteria and based on the trophic status indices (TSI) calculated after Carlson’s as well as Kratzer and Brezonik’s. Reclamation of the reservoir, which consisted mainly in removing the sediments, caused a reduction in all TSI values. Analysing the overall trophic level index, i.e. the average of TSI (TP), TSI (TN), and TSI (Chl), water of the Bachmaty reservoir may be classified as eutrophic in individual years of the research, although a gradual decline in the TSI value could be observed directly after the reservoir modernizing. After testing it was found that the formation of the trophic level of Bachmaty reservoir was largely affected by the amount of total phosphorus supplied to the water. Water quality in the reservoirs, and also the content of phosphorus compounds is largely determined by external supply.

A new fast method for determination of mobile zinc fractions in soil is proposed in this work. The three-stage modified BCR procedure used for fractionation of zinc in soil was accelerated by using ultrasounds. The working parameters of an ultrasound probe, a power and a time of sonication, were optimized in order to acquire the content of analyte in soil extracts obtained by ultrasound-assisted sequential extraction (USE) consistent with that obtained by conventional modified Community Bureau of Reference (BCR) procedure. The content of zinc in extracts was determined by flame atomic absorption spectrometry. The developed USE procedure allowed for shortening the total extraction time from 48 h to 27 min in comparison to conventional modified BCR procedure. The method was fully validated, and the uncertainty budget was evaluated. The trueness and reproducibility of the developed method was confirmed by analysis of certified reference material of lake sediment BCR-701. The applicability of the procedure for fast, low costs and reliable determination of mobile zinc fraction in soil, which may be useful for assessing of anthropogenic impacts on natural resources and environmental monitoring purposes, was proved by analysis of different types of soil collected from Podlaskie Province (Poland). Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s10661-015-5020-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The immediate and prolonged (i.e. two and three years after the treatment) effect of fertilizing with organic wastes on the content in tissues and consumption rate of potassium, calcium and manganese by Chenopodium album in various crops, in its varying contribution to the weed biomass was studied. It was found that Chenopodium album share was differentiated in dependence on the combination of fertilization and the cultivated plant. The content of K, Ca and Mg in dry matter depended on the kind of fertilization (before beginning the experiment) and the cultivated plant. The amount of Chenopodium album biomass from each fertilized object most influenced the uptake of those macro elements from an area unit.