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Owing to their toxicity, heavy metals constitute a serious threat to the environment. In the pages that follow, we will report the results of evaluation of the potential ecological risk and trend of soil heavy metal pollution surrounding the drilling waste deposition site in western Poland. The concentrations of heavy metals: Cd, Cr, Cu, Pb were determined by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry. The procedure used for potential ecological risk assessment was as proposed by Hakanson (1980). The calculated potential ecological risk factors come in the following order EiR(Cd)>EiR(Pb)>EiR(Cu)>EiR(Cr), which shows that Cd is the most important factor leading to risk. The uniform model was employed to determine the time in which Cd concentration will exceed the permissible concentration level, as regulated by Polish Law. The Pearson correlation coefficient was employed along with the correspondence analysis in order to determine the relationships between heavy metal concentrations.

The deposited drilling waste may alter the functioning of soil ecosystems by disrupting the soil fauna. The wastes contain toxic compounds such as metals or hydrocarbons, which tend to accumulate in the living. In the research, earthworms were used u as bio-indicators of soil pollution resulting from the presence of pollution contained in drilling waste. The aim of this study is to evaluation of toxicity of the waste of spent oil and water drilling cuttings to earthworm Eisenia fetida. Oil-based and water-based drilling cuttings were added to soil, used six doses of drilling wastes (5%, 10%, 15%, 25%, 30%, 50%). The results showed that the 45 days LC50 of oil-based drilling cuttings ranged 18%, LC50 of water-based drilling cuttings ranged 33%. In general, mortality increases with increasing dosage waste.

Storage of drilling wastes threatens the natural environment. Cluster analysis was employed for evaluation of the behaviour of chemical compounds in the water of piezometers from the drilling waste management facility in Luchów. Cluster analysis proved to be an efficient method, enabling the identification of groups of chemical compounds threatening the environment.

The aim of article is to examine and compare the views of employers and future employees on the desirable competencies of the potential labour market participants. The applied research method is a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods – interviews conducted among recruiters (representing potential employers) and a survey of university graduates (future employees). The study shows that both the Polish graduates and the employers identify the deficits of professional competencies. The differences of opinions were related to their assessment of generic competencies, the deficits of which were pointed to by the interviewed recruiters, who described them at the same time as fundamental to obtaining the employment. Meanwhile, the graduates assessed their generic competencies as the highest. According to the recruiters, the future employees lack also practical experience. On the other hand, the employers believe that the graduates are not prepared to using the possessed theoretical knowledge in practice. It should be noted, however, that employers perceive a great potential for the development of graduate competencies, which, together with acquiring practical experience, will probably lead to the narrowing of the competence gap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents the possibility of applying spent synthetic ion exchangers and sorbents based on natural zeolites for the reclamation of degraded soils. The obtained research results confirmed the improvement of the soil sorption capacity (cation exchange capacity) caused by the addition of spent ion exchange sorbents. They also enabled to determine the magnitude of changes of the analyzed parameters depending on the amount of wastes introduced to the soil. The addition of 1% (w/w) spent cation exchanger enables to increase the cation exchange capacity twice, whereas in the case of zeolite, the observed increase reaches about 20%. Simultaneously, introduction of waste ion exchange sorbents increases the content of exchangeable calcium and magnesium while doubling in the content of these macroelements is observed for 5% (w/w) and 2% (w/w) of spent ion exchanger, respectively. In the case of the exchangeable potassium content, a satisfactory increase is observed with 1% (w/w) addition of spent zeolite. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]