Volume 25 (2014): Issue 4 (December 2014)

The method for the reduction of pesticide residues in soft fruits based on utilization of ozone was proposed. The procedure allows for effective reduction of boscalid residues by 38% in raspberries, and about 58% thiram in blackcurrants. Furthermore, it can be used on an industrial scale.

During 2007-2009, studies were undertaken to determine the effect of genetic factors, magnesium fertilisation and storage on the content of nitrates (V) and (III) in carrot roots. After harvest as well as after storage, the cultivar ‘Perfekcja’ was characterised by the lowest content of NO₃⁻ and NO₂⁻, while the greatest amounts were found in cultivar ‘Flacoro’. Magnesium was applied in doses of 0, 45 and 90 kg MgO ha^-1 - in the form of 3% spraying during the vegetation season. The research items were cultivars: ‘Berjo’, Flacoro’, ‘Karotan’, ‘Koral’ and ‘Perfekcja’.

After harvest as well as after storage, the cultivar ‘Perfekcja’ was characterised by the lowest content of NO₃⁻ and NO₂⁻, while the greatest amounts were found in cultivar ‘Flacoro’. In this research, each of the applied dose of magnesium fertilisation resulted in a significant increase in the content of nitrates (V) and (III) in carrot roots, but none of the evaluated cultivars did not exceed the allowed amounts. After storage, the content of nitrates (V) decreased for the cultivars ‘Berjo’, ‘Flacoro’ and ‘Karotan’ by 2%, for ‘Koral’ and ‘Perfekcja’ by 2.5%, whereas of nitrates (III) for the cultivar ‘Berjo’ by 1%, Karotan’ and ‘Perfekcja’ by 3% and for ‘Flacoro’ and ‘Koral’ by 5%.

The order to monitor the chemical pollution of food, the dynamic development of ecology and specialisation in potato production as well as its large consumption caused the investigations about the influence of storage time and genetic conditions of potato on con-tents of nitrates (V) and (III) in tubers for different use purposes during 2009–2011.

In the present study, eight cultivars of potatoes with different use purposes and duration of vegetation time obtained from producer Norika Poland INC were used: ‘Albatros’, ‘Gala’, ‘Karatop’, ‘Kar-lena’, ‘Kiebitz’, ‘Lambada’, ‘Molli’ and ‘Pirol’.

The tubers of cultivars used for processing such as starch pro-duction (‘Albatros’) as well as chips and crisps (‘Karlena’) were characterised by the highest content of nitrates (V) and (III). After 6 months of storage, a significant decrease of nitrates (V) and (III) contents was observed, which from the point of view of the con-sumer should be considered as the beneficial effect. Regardless of cultivar, the depletion of nitrates (V) was in the mean of 4.7% and of nitrates (III) was about 4.4%. Regardless of the use purposes, the intake of 300 g of investigated potato tubers after harvest as well as after storage time does not exceed the recommended daily allowance for nitrates (V) and (III), where after the storage time this amount is even declining.

In the present experiment, the significance of cultivar (convention-al and coloured) and of the application of the soil fertility enhancer UGmax on health-promoting properties of carrot roots subjected to the freezing process of carrot cubes after water blanching was investigated. The selection of cultivar turned out to be highly signif-icant with respect to the development of health-promoting properties of carrot roots. The highest antioxidant properties were found in the purple cultivar ‘Deep Purple’. Its mean antioxidant capacity accounted for 5.31 mmol Fe⁺² · kg^–1 f.m. Essential for health-promoting properties were the contents of anthocyanins (R² = 0.83), chlorogenic acid (R² = 0.81) and total polyphenolics (R² = 0.71). The application of the biological agent UGmax improved the qual-ity of carrot significantly, increasing the content of total carotenoids and reducing the losses of ascorbic acid during processing. The freezing process negatively influenced the antioxidative properties of carrot irrespective of cultivar and applied agro-technique (use of UGmax), especially in the case of water-soluble antioxidants such as anthocyanins and ascorbic acid.

In recent years, in the literature, there have been frequent reports of insuffcient amounts of copper in the diet of various groups of the inhabitants of our country. This is disturbing as the adequate input of copper is signifcant from the point of view of prevention of cardiovascular diseases. At the same time, grain of wheat cultivated in Poland is characterized by low content of this element. Considering that the main source of Cu is bread and cereal preparations, the important issue is to increase the content of Cu in the grain of wheat. If the defciency in the diet is accompanied by the defciencies in the soil, biofortifcation through fertilization is a favourable solution. Pot experiments have shown the pos-sibility to signifcantly increase Cu content in the grain of wheat as a result of soil fertilization with copper. It was also found that a small difference between the defciency and surplus of Cu in the grain may lead to some copper excess content, especially on the soils with low organic matter content. For this reason, biofortifcation of wheat with copper requires a precise determination of soil fertilization doses under the conditions of feld experiments.

The purpose of the research was to examine the extent to which the type of soil co-contaminated with Cd, Pb and Zn affected the accumulation and distribution of these metals in maize; a crop that plays a significant role in feeding of animals and humans. Two 1-year microplot experiments were conducted using four types of soils. The soils were as follows: sandy soil with a low content of organic matter (S1), sandy soil of analogical granu-lometric composition, but with a higher content of organic mat-ter (S2), loess poor in organic matter (L1) and the same loess with its higher content (L2). The differences between the soils in terms of the availability of individual metals for maize and their transport from the roots to the aerial parts were evaluated on the basis of bioaccumulation factors (BF) and translocation indexes (TL). It was found that maize cultivation on the soil poorly pol-luted with Cd, Pb and Zn, regardless of its type, poses the dan-ger of translocation of these metals to the grains in the amounts exceeding the maximum limit in foods. However, the amount of metals accumulated in the grain, as well as in the cobs, do not exclude the use of these plant parts for feed.

The aim of this study was to demonstrate that alluvial sediments of Wrocław ice-marginal Valley are characterized by higher con-centrations of metallic elements in relation to the adjacent areas of different soil cover genesis.

Studies of zinc and arsenic content in soils were carried out in six municipalities of Średzki district. A total of 117 soil samples from arable land was collected: 80 from Średzka Upland and 37 from Wrocław ice-marginal Valley

The process of accumulation of heavy metals in alluvial sediments in the Wocław ice-marginal Valley is so effective that, despite the heavier grain size composition of the soil cover immediately adjacent to Średzka Upland, zinc and arsenic concentrations are higher in the alluvial soils.

In this paper, the total and phytoavailable form of copper in allotment garden in Zielona Góra are presented. Soil samples were collected from eight places in the allotments gardens and two samples from outside in the neighbourhood. The total content of copper varied from 2.58 to 16.23 mg · kg^-1. The form of copper potentially avail-able for plants varied from 0.2 to 3.85 mg · kg^-1. The total content of copper meets the requirements of Directive by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development of the 21^st March 2002 on the acceptable content of heavy metals in soils and Directive by the Minister of the Environment of the 9^th September 2002 on the standards of soil quality and the standards of land quality

Analysis of the top-soil total content of heavy metals was carried out inthe vicinity of large copper ore tailings pound in the south-western Poland with regard to soil properties, direction and distance from the tailings pound. None of the soils under study ex-ceeded the limits admitted in the official standards for soil quality, but the assessment made in accordance with IUNG-guidelines to soil contamination determination showed that more than half of the monitoring sites have elevated metal content, Cu, in par-ticular. The results confirmed high effectiveness of dust control preventing its eolian spread from the tailings pound.

Phycoremediation is the use of algae for the removal or biotrans-formation of pollutants from wastewater. The study is a novel at-tempt to integrate nutrient (N and P) removal and some heavy met-als (iron, manganese and zinc) bioaccumulation from municipal wastewater using two microalgae species: Chlorella vulgaris and Scenedesmus armatus. The Chlorella vulgaris showed higher re-moval of total nitrogen (TN) both in influent and effluent waste water than Scenedesmus armatus. Nevertheless, more than 51% of total phosphorus (TP) in effluent and 36% in influent wastewaters were removed by Scenedesmus armatus. More efficient microalga in heavy metal removal in influent wastewater was Scenedesmus armatus. The results showed that Chlorella vulgaris was appropriate for TN removal and bioaccumulation of heavy metals from effluent wastewater. Nevertheless, Scenedesmus armatus was highly pref-erable for heavy metals removal from influent wastewater.

The aim of this paper was to study meat industry wastewater treatment efficiency during fermentation process in ASBR reactor and post-treatment in UF process. The anaerobic process obtained a considerable degree of the removal of organic pollutants from raw wastewater designated as COD (73.3%), BOD (71.4%) and TOC (83.2%). The concentrations of COD and BOD were 435 and 443 mg/dm³, respectively. The value of TOC reached a level of 136 mg/dm³. Generated biogas in the methane fermentation process of wastewater from meat industry plants was characterized by high methane content (80.9% vol.). In the final part of the experiment, the UF process was used in order to post-treating effluent from ASBR reactor. During the UF process, COD, BOD and TOC parameters were removed at 67.2%, 68% and 70.4%, respectively.

The Act of 14 December 2012. Waste sets out measures to pro-tect the environment, human life and health, to prevent and re-duce the negative impact on the environment and human health resulting from the production and management of waste and limiting the overall impact of resource use and improving the ef-ficiency of such use. In this context, this study attempts to deter-mine the model method of preventing environmental pollution by harmful substances eluted from the municipal waste.

This paper presents the research target of which were commercial landfill Sobuczynie, which was analysed by looking at contempo-rary legal requirements specifically set out in the Regulation of the Minister of the Environment regarding the location, construction and operation of landfills and the scope, duration and frequency, as well as the manner and conditions under which monitoring of landfills and illegal landfill in White and impact of uncontrolled spread of pollution on the environment within the “landfill”.

Mosquito control in Poland is still dominated by the use of chemicals. Although it has been 13 years since the flood of the century, only in few cities and towns (Wroclaw, Gorzow Wielkopolski and Torun) various methods of mosquito control such as mapping of larvae development and setting time limits for the imagines occur-rence were developed. The problem of mosquito control is not only limited to adult insects, it is also much more a complex issue due to the use of insecticides in the environment that we would rather like to keep unchanged, with a diversity of co-existing species of plants and animals. In addition to eradication of larvae and adult insects, we should also: carry out actions modifying environment so that it becomes less friendly to mosquitoes (e.g. drying wet mead-ows as a result of land reclamation), protect places where people reside - with the use of insecticide lamps and spatial repellents, as well as catchers for aggressive female mosquitoes. Increasing the share of environmental management methods and public education on preventing to form and eliminating existing places of mosquito larvae development in urban green areas (parks, river overflow areas and drainage ditches) are still an undervalued element of integrated mosquito control in Poland.

In order to meet social needs and create new social relations, the EU Commission classified under the concept of social innovations, development and implementation of new ideas (products, services, models). In rural areas, this kind of social needs is represented among others by the need of solving the issue of domestic wastewater treatment. The paper describes the imple-mentation of sewerage development program in Poland, as well as problems derived from large value variation of factors encoun-tered characterising the domestic sewage contamination. In view of the current state, the environmental risks due to improper use of domestic wastewater treatment technologies were specified.

The aim of this study was to learn about environmental awareness among the inhabitants of communes in which Natura 2000 areas had been designated. Field study with the use of an interview questionnaire was conducted in 2013 in two communes of Warmińsko-Mazurskie province, namely Bartoszyce and Sorkwity. The study in-volved a total of 61 inhabitants. The obtained results demonstrated that despite the actual presence of various forms of environmental protection within the areas under study, the depth of knowledge in the subject concerned was relatively low among the local population. Research shows that the respondents perceive the need for pro-environmental measures; however, they rarely take those mea-sures themselves, unless they can see economic profits in it. Even though more than half of the respondents have heard the name Natura 2000, majority of them know nothing thereof.

The aim of this study was to analyse the results of exhaled nitric oxide examination in a group of patients with hyper-responsive-ness. The study was performed on a group of 297 children who underwent spirometry, examination of exhaled nitric oxide, skin prick test and stress probe in years 2010-2012 in Pulmonology and Allergy Centre in Karpacz. Mean age of patients was 11.86. Patients were divided into four groups: with diagnosed asthma, with bronchial hyper-responsiveness (BHR), with described asthma without BHR and a group with BHR without diagnosed asthma. The results of the study confirmed the presence of high-er amount of exhaled nitric oxide in patients with asthma and bronchial hyper-responsiveness. The elevation of NO concen-tration correlated with age; there was no significant difference between sexes.