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Defining the biological and physicochemical parameters in soil under illegally dumping sites provides information on the real threat and the direction of changes in the soil environment. The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of uncontrolled dump sites which differed in the composition of the waste deposited on the development of selected groups of soil microorganisms and the activity of redox enzymes and selected physicochemical soil parameters. Additionally, it was verified whether the biological and physicochemical parameters differ in soil depending on the depth (0-20 and 20-40 cm). The research covered three waste landfill sites (W1, W2, W3), the arable field (A) found in the zone of the effect of the dumping site as well as the control point (C). The microbiological analyses show that most amylolytic microorganisms (87.0 9 10 5 cfu), celullolytic (46.4 9 10 5 cfu), proteolytic (148.6 9 10 5 cfu) and bacteria in total (123.2 9 10 5 cfu) were isolated from the surface later of control soil (C), and definitely least-from the area of dumping sites W1 and W2. The waste accumulated in W1 and W2 led to the soil depletion in organic matter, inhibited the development of microorganisms and their enzymatic activity. The soil under landfill site W3 showed the highest values recorded for physicochemical properties, the count of Actinobacteria, as well as the activity of dehydrogenases and catalase. The concentration of heavy metals in soil under landfill site W3 was even tenfold higher than the values recorded at the other measurement points, which must have been due to the effect of the type of the waste dumped in landfill site W3, where biodegradable waste of organic origin dominated. Disturbing the biological control and unfavourable changes in the microbiocenotic composition were mostly revealed in soil at landfill site W1.

Tillage is an agrotechnical practice that strongly affects the soil environment. Its effect on soil properties depends on the system and, more specifically, on the degree of soil inversion and loosening. Strip-till is a non-inversive method that loosens only narrow soil strips. In strip-till one-pass (ST-OP) technology, tillage is combined with a simultaneous application of fertilizers and seed sowing. In a static multi-year field experiment, the soil properties after application of ST-OP for 8 years were compared to those of soil under conventional tillage with the use of a moldboard plough to a depth of 20 cm (CT), and equally deep loosened and mixed reduced tillage (RT). A field experiment of these three treatments was performed since 2012 in sandy loam soil, Luvisol. A total of 44 features were examined that described the physical, chemical, biological, and biochemical soil properties in the 0–20 cm layer, and penetration resistance (PR), bulk density (BD), and soil moisture (SM) in the 25–30 cm layer. The influence of the ST-OP technology on the yield of crops was also determined. Multivariate analysis shows that the ST-OP method, in terms of affecting the soil properties, differs considerably from RT and CT treatments. The soil after the ST-OP method contained two- to four-fold more earthworms (En), with a mass (Em) 2- to 5-fold higher, than those in the soil following RT and CT, respectively. In the ST-OP soil the content of available phosphorus (Pa) and available potassium (Ka); the total count of bacteria (Bt), cellulolytic microorganisms (Bc), and fungi (Ff); and the activity of phosphatases (AlP, AcP) were significantly higher. Compared with CT, the content of total organic carbon (Ct) and its content in the fractions of organic matter were also higher, with the exception of humins (CH). The yields of winter rapeseed and winter wheat using the ST-OP technology were marginally higher compared with those using the CT and RT technology.

The present research aimed to assess the influence of illegal dumping on changes in the content of phosphorus and its relationship with selected chemical properties. Soil was sampled from two horizons: 0-20 and 20-40 cm. Samples from points W1, W2 and W3 (waste 1, 2 and 3) were collected directly from under illegally deposited landfill sites that differed in the morphological composition. At a distance of 30 m from landfill W3 there were agricultural lands where maize was cultivated (arable soil, AS). The control point (C) was located far from the waste landfill sites determined and beyond the range of their effect. In soil the following were determined: total organic carbon, phosphorus (total, organic, mineral, available, active), the microbiological activity, the content of heavy metals and the activity of alkaline and acid phosphatase. The study concluded that the composition of treatments W1 and W2 had a more negative impact on the soils than landfill site W3. The results show that the changes depended on the type of the waste deposited. In AS and landfills W3 there was observed a high P availability and count of bacteria. The results have shown that an addition of organic residues to soil has a variety of effects on microbial and phosphatase activities. The lowest resistance (RS) for alkaline and acid phosphatases was found in soil from the area of dumping sites W1 and W2; the highest RS was determined in AS. Statistical analyses of simple correlations showed clearly that microbiological populations were also particularly implicated in the activity of phosphomonoesterases.

The paper evaluates the contents of total forms of selected heavy metals (Zn, Cu, Ni and Pb) as well as the activity of catalase (CAT), dehydrogenases (DEH), alkaline phosphatase (AlP) and acid phosphatase (AcP) in mineral surface horizons of forest soils exposed to the effect of road traffic pollutions. The sampling locations (n = 24) were determined in the area covered by the Szubin Forest along the exit road from Bydgoszcz to Poznań (provincial road no. 223). Soil was sampled 25 m away from the traffic lane, from two depths, 5–20 cm (humus horizons) and 20–50 cm (eluvial horizons). The contents of the heavy metals analysed were in the order of Pb > Zn > Cu > Ni. Despite intensive road traffic, with the Integrated Pollution Index (IPI) calculated, there was found a low pollution with nickel, average with zinc and copper and high with lead only. However, under the Regulation of the Minister of Environment, heavy metal values recorded allow for classifying the soils analysed as soils unpolluted with those metals. In the soil samples analysed, there were found significant positive dependencies between the content of clay fraction and zinc (r = 0.455; P < 0.05) and copper (r = 0.430; P < 0.05). With the enzyme activity results, values of the soil resistance index (RS) were calculated. The enzymes analysed were classified in the following decreasing order in terms of their resistance to traffic pollution: catalase > acid phosphatase > alkaline phosphatase > dehydrogenases (humus horizons) and catalase > dehydrogenases > alkaline phosphatase > acid phosphatase (eluvial horizons). Organic carbon showed a significant positive correlation with the activities of alkaline (r = 0.668; P < 0.05) and acid phosphatase (r = 0.668; P < 0.05) however not with catalase and dehydrogenases.

An increase in the number of reports of legionellosis in the European Union and the European Economic Area have been recorded in recent years. The increase in cases is significant: from 6947 reports in 2015 to 11,298 in 2019. This is alarming as genus Legionella, which comprises a large group of bacteria inhabiting various aquatic systems, poses a serious threat to human health and life, since more than 20 species can cause legionellosis, with L. pneumophila being responsible for the majority of cases. The ability to colonize diverse ecosystems makes the eradication of these microorganisms difficult. A detailed understanding of the Legionella habitat may be helpful in the effective control of this pathogen. This paper provides an overview of Legionella environments in Europe: natural (lakes, groundwater, rivers, compost, soil) and anthropogenic (fountains, air humidifiers, water supply systems), and the role of Legionella spp. in nosocomial infections, which are potentially fatal for children, the elderly and immunocompromised patients. Graphical abstract

Hygienic aspects of cattle slurry storage as tHe most popular and cHeapest metHod of Handling liquid animal excrements* * K r z y s z t o f S k o w r o n 1, 2♦ , H a l i n a O l s z e w s k a 2 , K a r o l i n a J a d w i g a S k o w r o n 3 , P i o t r P a l u s z a k 3 , B a r b a r a B r e z a -B o r u t a abstract slurry is a very valuable natural fertilizer, but its improper use in agriculture poses a serious sanitary threat. therefore its treatment before use for fertilization is advisable. one of such methods, which is still the most popular, is storage of liquid excrements. the aim of this study was to estimate the sanitization effectiveness of storage at 4ºc and 20ºc based on parameters describing the kinetics of changes in the population of some indicator bacteria in cattle slurry with different dry matter content. the material for the study was fresh cattle slurry. the liquid excrements used in the experiment had a dry matter content of 2, 6 and 14%. slurry was stored at 4ºc and 20ºc. Bacilli of Salmonella dublin, E. coli and enterococci were used as indicator bacteria. number of microorganisms was determined based on mpn method in a 3-tube design. Basic parameters of the bacteria inactivation kinetics were calculated and statistical analysis was made using the program sas 9.2 pl. in stored slurry a gradual elimination of all the studied microorganisms was observed. Hygienization effect of storage was smaller at 4ºc than at 20ºc and in excrements with a high dry matter content. depending on storage temperature and dry matter proportion, the theoretical times of survival ranged from 81.85 to 220.80 days for bacilli of Salmonella dublin, from 74.93 to 199.36 days for E. coli, and from 118.67 to 335.84 days for enterococci. the study showed explicitly that statutory time of slurry storage is insufficient to ensure its complete hygienization.

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