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The purpose of this study was to determine the concentrations of heavy metals (cadmium, lead, zinc, copper, iron and manganese) in soil, their bioavailability and bioaccumulation in plants leaves. This study also examined their influences on the antioxidant response of the plants Cardaminopsis arenosa and Plantago lanceolata grown in metal-contaminated and non-contaminated soils. The activities of guaiacol peroxidase and superoxide dismutase and the levels of antioxidants such as glutathione, proline and non-protein thiols were measured. Concentrations of the examined metals were several to thousands of times lower in the potentially bioavailable fraction than in the acid-extracted fraction of the soil. Similar mode of antioxidant responses in plant leaves of metalliferous populations indicates the tolerance of plants towards heavy metals. However POD and GSHt had a particularly strong role in defense reactions, as their increase was the most common reaction to heavy metal contamination.The levels of Zn, Cd and Pb in the leaves of C. arenosa better reflected metal concentrations in the metalliferous and non-metalliferous soil than the determined metal concentrations in P. lanceolata. Bioaccumulated Zn, Cd and Pb concentrations were above or in the ranges mentioned as toxic for plant tissues and therefore the studied plants have potential for use in phytostabilization.

An overview of publications focussed on the period since 2000 and outlining modern methods of sample preparation as well as advanced techniques for determination of rare earth elements (REE) in various matrices is presented in this paper. The review discusses the problems of REE determination in diverse samples i.e. from biological through environmental and geological to advanced materials. The preferable procedure of sample digestion and the most frequently applied methods of sample preparation for determination of trace elements are discussed in this paper. The case of direct analysis of samples for REE determination is also discussed. The review outlines determination of REE employing many techniques such as, inter alia, flame or graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry, atomic absorption with chemical vapor generation, X-ray fluorescence spectrometry, inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and neutron activation analysis. This article summarizes and classifies materials in which rare earth elements are present, main places of their occurrence and the methods of their analysis.

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