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Rapid industrial development is connected with technical improvement and modern solutions which diminish its adverse environmental impact globally. Although this progress is significant and does not degrade the environment the historical contaminants are still present which can significantly affect human health. Therefore, it is crucial to focus on the areas where industrial activities lasted a long time. Among industries, the chemical sector can have a severe environmental impact, including process production and waste. Hence, this study aimed to assess Złotniki Chemical Works S.A. impact on the environment and residents' health risks as this plant was present in this area for years. Findings show significant environmental impact and possible health risks to inhabitants due to high metal concentrations in the studied soil samples. High concentrations of lead, zinc, and copper were recorded. Despite advanced technologies, continuous industrial activity monitoring is crucial for local community safety and environmental protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional methods of air pollution monitoring require substantial investment in equipment and infrastructure. However, efficient and cost-effective alternatives offer promising solutions for region-specific pollution assessments and understanding their impact on local populations. This review explores examples of low-cost monitoring methods, focusing on natural bioindicators, human interaction-based techniques, and the outcomes associated with air pollution exposure. Bioindicators such as spider webs, lichens, mosses, and Tradescantia pallida (T. pallida) are discussed as potential tools for air pollution monitoring. Human biomonitoring techniques, including the micronucleus assay and the assessment of pulmonary anthracosis, are examined for their ability to provide valuable insights into genotoxic effects and long-term exposure. The advantages and limitations of each method are highlighted. The review advocates for continued research and development to refine these approaches, with the aim of mitigating the adverse health impacts of air pollution on both individuals and communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, heightened air pollution characterized by elevated levels of particulate matter and potentially toxic metals has become a prominent concern, particularly in densely populated urban areas, which may pose a threat to the health of the population. The present study aims to conduct a comprehensive health risk assessment of heavy metals exposure via inhalation, with a focus on submicron particles (PM1), in two major cities of Poland - Warsaw and Zabrze. These cities were selected due to their distinct levels of urbanization and industrialization. Non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic risks assessment was performed for children and adults. The carcinogenic risk was evaluated for As, Cd, Cr(VI), Ni, Pb, and Co, classified as carcinogens, the non-carcinogenic risk evaluation encompassed a broader range of metals, including V, Mn, Cu, Zn, and Mg, aiming to comprehensively understand health exposure. The results highlight elevated carcinogenic risk in Zabrze, primarily linked to industrial activities and ongoing emissions. Notably, Ni, As, and Cr(VI) exceed safe limits, underscoring the need for targeted interventions. Moreover, non-carcinogenic risks reveal Zabrze's heightened respiratory health risks, compared to Warsaw. Despite Warsaw's lower non-carcinogenic risk values, both cities recorded Ni and Mg concentrations exceeding safe limits. This indicates that Zabrze faces higher health risks from heavy metal exposure due to ongoing pollution sources. In contrast, Warsaw, the capital city and a major urban centre, demonstrates better air quality but still requires continuous monitoring and pollution control measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article characterizes first general geological (lithological-stratigraphical) maps presenting Quaternary deposits in Northern Poland. These were the maps of territory of the Prussian partition, elaborated by German geologists from Prussian Geological Survey “Königlich Preussische Geologische Landesanstalt”. After Poland regained its independence they became a basis for many Polish geological publications. The article discusses the chronology and objectives of the main cartographic works of German geologists operating in the area of present-day Northern Poland (general and detailed geological maps) and briefly presents the methodology of geological mapping of lowlands at the scale of 1:25,000.

Urban road dust is an increasingly important source of air pollution and poses a serious threat to human health. In Poland, the urban road dust (URD) problem is enhanced by the use of old generation transport vehicles and transport systems. Seasonal variation in URD-bound elements is not well-known in Poland and controlling their pollution level can be a tough task. Therefore, studies on winter dust pollution will help to understand the sources of URD and take appropriate measures to reduce road dust emissions in the future. We analysed the relative content of heavy metals in two representative regions of Poland, Lower and Upper Silesia, and evaluated the sources of the contamination with the following pollution indices: Enrichment Factor (EF), Geoaccumulation Index (Igeo), pollution index (PI), and Pollution Load Index (PLI). We assessed the health risk for inhabitants due to the exposure to toxic metals through URD. We found that both studied regions are quite heavily polluted in winter. Our studies clearly show that the URD-bound elements level is much higher in Upper Silesia than in Lower Silesia in winter. The results of this study are useful for researchers to bridge the gap on the pollution of elements in URD from Poland, where there is a lack of such data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The analysis of the impact of PCC “Rokita” chemical industry on the natural environment has been studied. Samples of water, soil and sediment taken nearby industry were analyzed with ecotoxicological tests.. We used Avena sativa for study the impact of industry on producers and to evaluate soil quality. Additionally the commercial test, Phytotoxkit, test was conducted. Water quality was assessed using Tubifex tubifex and Daphnia magna/ Sediment’s quality was assessed with the application of Ostracodtoxkit F test (Heterocypris incongruens). Conducted ecotoxicological tests proved that the studied area surrounding PCC “Rokita” is still contaminated with organic toxic compounds we observed mortality in water and soil of organisms tested. The fighest impact of toxicants was recorded for sediments suggesting accumulation of toxicants over many years.

In this study we assessed the metabolic reaction of mealworms to toxic metals Cu and Pb alone or delivered with carrots as an additional source of water and minerals. We compared our results with metabolic reaction of mealworms to food shortage. We recorded the highest morality and mass loss in culture contaminated with Pb (in relation to Cu contamination) proving the greatest impact of this metal on metabolism of mealworms. The great decrease in protein, carbohydrates and lipid content was observed in this variant (mealworms fed with food contaminated with Pb) as well. The slight positive effect of carrot addition was observed for larvae fed with both metals. Starvation had similar but slighter effect as Pb on metabolism as starved larvae were characterised by high, but not the highest decrease of protein, carbohydrates and lipid content. The studies proved that metal contamination could have great impact on metabolism of mealworms which is a key issue when we consider these insects as a source of proteins in place of vertebrates.

Highlights: The sediments from all water bodies near the landfill are heavily polluted with Cr; Ecotoxicological studies on the sediments and water demonstrated the highest toxicity to tested species came from the nearest site to the slag heap; Noncancer and cancer risk calculations indicate possible adverse health effects for all sediments taken from the three water bodies; There is a high risk of possible health problems for fish consumers. This study assessed the possible impact of a former ferrochromium plant in Siechnice (Lower Silesia, Poland) on water reservoirs and living organisms. The metal concentrations (Zn, Cu, Pb, Fe, and Cr) in the sediments were determined, along with ecotoxicological studies that were conducted on both the sediments and the surface water of three water bodies that border the slag heap. The samples of the sediments and water were taken at different distances from the landfill area. The studies also covered a human health risk assessment. The highest concentrations of all the studied elements were observed in the sediments taken from the water reservoir closest to the landfill. In the case of the sediments, a 30% death rate for Heterocypris incongruens (Ostracodtoxkit F) was recorded at the same site. Additionally, at this site, the ecotoxicological studies on the surface water revealed the highest mortality for Daphnia magna (Daphtoxkit F magna) and the lowest values of LC50 for algae (Algaltoxkit). The health risk assessment of the sediments was estimated by calculating the noncarcinogenic health risk using the hazard quotient (HQ) and hazard index (HI), and the carcinogenic risk was calculated using the excessive risk of cancer development (ECR) measurement. The hazard index (HIing) for Cr exceeded 1 for children, which suggests that possible adverse health effects might occur for humans. The ECR values calculated for Cr and Pb were above the range limit of 10−6. The value for Cr was the highest for the sediments from the closest water reservoir to the landfill for both children and adults. Studies prove that the water reservoirs located near landfills pose potential ecological risks, and the risk is the highest where the distance is the shortest from the slag heap. In prospective human health risk assessments, the sediments from the closest water body pose a potential carcinogenic health risk to humans, especially to fish consumers, i.e., the residents of neighboring areas who might experience severe health problems from the intake of Cr and Pb through fish consumption. Significant steps should be taken to reduce Cr concentrations in the sediments to minimize the risk of human health adverse effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The release of such contaminants as metals into aquatic environment and its accumulation in sediment is a great concern due to the potential effect to the whole ecosystem. Water biocoenosis can change completely with the introduction metals into the water course. The aim of the study was to compare the water quality of three small streams contaminated with arsenic on the basis of multimetric diatom index IO and microbiotest designed to evaluate sediment toxicity (The Ostracodtoxkit F). The quality of three small streams located within Złoty Stok community in Lower Silesia (SW, Poland) has never been assessed with the biological methods before. What is more, the impact of arsenic on water biocoenosis has been rarely studied worldwide. Such studies have not been conducted before in Poland. The findings showed that each of used method classifies similarly three studied streams. The obtained results confirmed that the biological methods are the most reliable in the assessment of water quality.

Biomonitoring is a significant tool of environmental protection strategies. Variety of bioindicators are used worldwide, particularly mosses, lichens and tree leaves. However, they revile many considerable disadvantages, e.g. limitation to vegetative season, moisture demand, exposition to severe weather conditions, limited time of monitoring. Classical impactors, on the other hand, are expensive, cannot be used without supervision and allow only for short-term monitoring. Spider webs, however, reveal features of extraordinary bioindicators. Webs are abundant, easy to collect, costless and can be found all year round, despite vegetative season. Spider silk is a very efficient, non-selective accumulator of contaminants, that allows for long-term monitoring. Thanks to this characteristics, spider webs proved to be immensely useful bioindicators of air pollution. They allow for monitoring of heavy metals, Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs), dioxins, so as assessment of mutagenic activity and anthropopression assessment and indication of dominant source of pollutants. Most of the researches concerning application of spider webs as bioindicators have been conducted in Wrocław, Poland. This paper reviews current knowledge on spider webs in monitoring of air pollution.

The application of spider webs for determination of polichlorinated dibenzo-para-dioxins (PCDDs) has been studied for the first time. The aim of the studies was to find out if spider webs are suitable for such examinations as it was proved in the previous research they are excellent indicators of air pollutants. Spiders are ubiquitous, thus collection of samples is easy and non-invasive. Studies were conducted within the city of Wrocław and surroundings, one of the biggest and at the same time heaviest polluted city in Poland. Five research sites have been chosen, where spider webs were collected after 60 days of continuous exposure time. Webs belonging to two genera Tegenaria sylvestris and Tegenaria ferruginea (family Agelenidae) have been chosen as they are large and very dense, thus they are very suitable for such examinations. Webs were found to retain dioxins probably mainly by external exposure. These promising results should be continued and expanded in the future research.

Air pollution is one of the most urgent problems of modern world, eventually causing the premature death of millions people every year. One of the burdens due to exposure to air pollutants is a lung cancer. It is necessary to develop new effective methods of carcinogen monitoring. The aim of the study was to evaluate if spider webs are suitable for the assessment of air mutagenicity by Ames MPF™ test. It is the first time spider webs had been incorporated into Ames MPF™ procedure. Webs of two spider species Araneus diadematus and Agelena labyrinthica have been collected at four sites exposed to high pollutants emission. Salmonella typhimurium TA98 strain without metabolic fraction have been used for the assay. All samples exhibited mutagenic activity most likely due to the road traffic. Webs of A. labyrinthica have shown higher mutagenicity effects at the tested sites in comparison to A. diadematus, plausibly because of the longer exposition time. The results are most promising and indicate high potential of combining spider webs and MPF™ procedure for assessing the mutagenic properties of urban air pollution.

Methods for using spider webs as passive air samplers have been developed over recent years and reported in more than a dozen articles. In this article, we present the typical procedures followed when using this new tool and critically review its application in air pollution assessment. To understand the state of research and application of spider webs in this field, we describe some advantages and disadvantages of their use in the analyses of air contaminants. The aim is to summarize the current knowledge on this subject, highlight gaps in the present studies, and arouse the interest of scientists on this issue. The increased effort could result in the standardization of the method at the national and international level. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2023;19:32–44. © 2022 SETAC KEY POINTS: This review proves that spider webs can be successfully used in biomonitoring studies of air pollution, and they give good results in terms of concentration of potentially toxic elements as well as PAHs.Despite the great potential of spider webs, it seems it will still be a long time before this tool becomes widely used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article studies the data from a weekly campaign devoted to the study of the elemental composition of PM10 in a selected receptor, in a suburban area (Mazowieckie Voivodeship). The sampling point was located at the intersection of main roads and in the vicinity of a typical single-family housing, not far from the electrified Warsaw-Białystok railway line and a small heating plant. The research was carried out in the summer season, in order to minimize the impact of municipal emissions on the concentrations and elemental composition of PM10. A Horiba PX-375 X-ray fluorescence spectrometer was used to measure the one-hour concentrations of elements related to PM10. On the basis of the obtained results, the enrichment factors for PM10 in the analyzed elements (EF) were calculated and the principal components analysis (PCA) was performed. It was found that although the elemental composition of PM10 in all tested time intervals was noticeably influenced by the emissions from transport, the municipal emissions had a significant impact on the elemental composition, especially those related to coal combustion, and thus the concentration of PM10 during the study period. It seems that the possibility of observing the influence of all relevant sources on the composition and concentration of PM10 was possible owing to the use of hourly-averaged measurements of the elemental composition of PM10. In the case of daily averaged measurements, in a receptor with such PM10 elemental profile, it would be impossible to determine the periods, in which specific - qualitatively completely different - emission sources dominate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As cities are growing in size with a rise in the population, the amount of plastic waste generated is increasing and becoming unmanageable. The treatment and disposal of plastic waste is an urgent need of our present and future. It has been proved recently that mealworms, the larvae of Tenebrio molitor Linnaeus, are able eat styrofoam, a common polystyrene product. Polystyrene is one of the most widely used plastics, the scale of its production being several million tons per year. Tenebrio molitor is one of the largest pests found in stored-grain products. The insect is indigenous to Europe, but is currently cosmopolitan in distribution. The styrofoam is efficiently degraded in the larval gut by microorganisms. We have used the larvae of T. molitor to biodegrade three types of food packaging plastics: polystyrene (PS), polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and polylactide (PLA). PVC is a thermoplastic made of 57% chlorine (derived from industrial grade salt) and 43% carbon (derived predominantly from oil /gas via ethylene). It is the world's third-most widely produced synthetic plastic polymer, which is not biodegradable easily. On the other hand, PLA is an easily biodegradable and bioactive thermoplastic aliphatic polyester derived from corn and tapioca starch or sugarcane. Three groups of larvae were fed selected types of polymers as an only food, while a control population was fed on oatmeal. The mass loss, dry matter content and biochemical composition of mealworms were assessed in the performed laboratory experiments. The protein concentration in homogenates of the larvae was determined by the Bradford method. To determine the level of hydrolized carbohydrates we used anthrone method. The classical sulfo-phospho-vanillin assay (SPVA) was used to quantitate total lipids in mealworms. The results allowed to compare the decomposition efficiency of selected polymer materials by mealworms and to recognize the mechanism of decomposition contributing to the future use of these animals for the treatment and disposal of plastic waste.

In our studies biodegradation of four variants of polystyrene was performed. We tested: raw material (PS), processed polystyrene (PSr), building insulation material (EPS) and food packaging boxes (PSp). Materials were characterized by means melt flow ratio (MFR), shore hardness and gloss. The biochemical assessment of macromolecules (proteins, lipids and sugars) in the mealworms organisms fed with tested forms of polystyrene allowed us to set how efficient and beneficial the biodegradation of types of polystyrene is. We also evaluated the variability of bacterial community in larval guts by the use of denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) on the bacterial DNA of 16S rRNA genes amplified in polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The results suggest that EPS and PSp polystyrene are the most digestible for T. molitor larvae. The metabolic degradation of polystyrene is probably strictly connected with the changes in biodiversity of gut bacteria.

The aims of this study were to determine the concentrations and elemental composition of PM10 in the village of Kotórz Mały (Poland), to analyse their seasonal variability, to determine the sources of pollutant emissions and to compare the consistency of the results obtained using different methods. Sampling and weather condition measurements were carried out in the winter (January–February) and spring (April) of 2019. Two combinations of different techniques were used to examine PM10 concentrations and their chemical composition: gravimetric method + atomic absorption spectrometry (GM+AAS) and continuous particle monitor + energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (CPM+EDXRF). In winter, the average concentrations of PM10 measured by the GM and CPM were similar (GM 44.3 µg/m3; CPM 34.0 µg/m3), while in spring they were clearly different (GM 49.5 µg/m3; CPM 29.8 µg/m3). Both AAS and EDXRF proved that in both seasons, Ca, K and Fe had the highest shares in the PM10 mass. In the case of the lowest shares, the indications of the two methods were slightly different. Factor analysis indicated that air quality in the receptor was determined by soil erosion, coal and burning biomass, and the combustion of fuels in car engines; in the spring, air quality was also affected by gardening activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The activities of smelters are often responsible for emitting pollution, especially PTEs, which are known to have a negative impact on the environment. Hence, the areas with active or past smelter activities are now of great concern. Following this idea, the analysis of the soil samples from the area nearby post-metallurgic waste dump, which is a remnant of the smelter where ferrochrome was produced, was performed. The samples were analyzed in terms of metal concentrations (Zn, Cu, Pb, Fe, Cr) and only the concentrations of Pb did not exceed the limit value for soil. Calculations of the exposure doses for each of these metals were also presented, considering different routes of exposure. Additionally, Hazard Quotient (HQ), Hazard Index (HI), and excessive risk of cancer development (ECR) were calculated, which helped to estimate the health risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the research was to study the impact of "Oława" smelter on surroundings. For this purpose, water, soil and sediments were collected in the vicinity of smelter and subjected to selected ecotoxicological tests. The authors used Spirodela polyrhiza duckweed and Brachinious calyciflorus rotifer for the assessment of the water from Odra River, and Heterocypris inconqruens ostracod for the sediment studies. Triticum sativum and Avena sativa monocotyledons as well as Sinapis alba and Lepidium sativum dicotyledonous plants were used to perform the soil toxicity tests. The obtained results proved slight sediment toxicity, but no toxicity of water was observed. The inhibition of root growth of tested plants was observed suggesting the impact of toxicity on soil. The studies proved that only the area in the nearest vicinity of the "Oława" smelter is still contaminated with heavy metals and may pose a serious threat to the environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the analysis of the vegetation growing on the waste dump Siechnice was carried out. On the basis of phytosociological relevès, the plant species were determined. It was shown that vegetation identified on the waste dump is similar to the plants growing around this area. What is more, ecological succession of Urticaceae was observed, which proves succession of plants preferring alkaline soils. In addition, the ecotoxicological tests did not show the contamination impact of soil samples. We recorded only a slight inhibition of growth of A. sativa (in the shoot length in lower part of dump). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]