Due to the specific structure of surfactants molecules they are applied in different areas of human activity (industry, household). After using and discharging from wastewater treatment plants as effluent stream, surface active agents (SAAs) are emitted to various elements of the environment (atmosphere, waters, and solid phases), where they can undergo numerous physic-chemical processes (e.g., sorption, degradation) and freely migrate. Additionally, SAAs present in the environment can be accumulated in living organisms (bioaccumulation), what can have a negative effect on biotic elements of ecosystems (e.g., toxicity, disturbance of endocrine equilibrium). They also cause increaseing solubility of organic pollutants in aqueous phase, their migration, and accumulation in different environmental compartments. Moreover, surfactants found in aerosols can affect formation and development of clouds, which is associated with cooling effect in the atmosphere and climate changes. The environmental fate of SAAs is still unknown and recognition of this problem will contribute to protection of living organisms as well as preservation of quality and balance of various ecosystems. This work contains basic information about surfactants and overview of pollution of different ecosystems caused by them (their classification and properties, areas of use, their presence, and behavior in the environment).

Although the Svalbard Archipelago is located at a high latitude, far from potential contaminant sources, it is not free from anthropogenic impact. Towards the Fuglebekken catchment, in the southern part of Spitsbergen, north of Hornsund fjord, contaminants can be transported from mainland pollution sources. In the precipitation and surface water collected in the catchment, the following elements were detected and quantified: Ag,

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Abstract:The paper presents changes in concentration levels of dioxin-like compounds that can be observed over the course of four study seasons in water samples collected from the Arctic watershed of Svalbard. The conducted analysis involved anthropogenic and natural factors that may affect the concentration of PAHs in the study samples of water. An attempt is made to indicate the emission source of the compounds being deposited and to identify the extent to which the substances under analysis actually affect the Arctic ecosystems. Moreover, the work employs the following: diagnostic ratios PAHs, air masses backward trajectory analysis, Lidar observations and land relief analysis in order to provide a multi-level interpretation of the obtained data. Natural environment constitutes a complex system of subtle correlations that need to be perceived as a dynamic medium, in which multi-faceted processes take place.

The Fuglebekken basin is situated in the southern part of the island of Spitsbergen (Norwegian Arctic), on the Hornsund fjord (Wedel Jarlsberg Land). Surface water was collected from 24 tributaries (B1–B24) and from the main stream water in the Fuglebekken basin (25) between 10 July 2009 and 30 July 2009. The present investigation reveals the results of the analysis of these samples for their PAH and PCB content. Twelve of 16 PAHs and seven PCBs were determined in the surface waters from 24 tributaries and the main stream. Total PAH and PCB concentrations in the surface waters ranged from 4 to 600 ng/L and from 2 to 400 ng/L respectively. The highest concentrations of an individual PCB (138–308 ng/L and 123 ng/L) were found in samples from tributaries B9 and B5. The presence in the basin (thousands of kilometres distant from industrial centres) of PAHs and PCBs is testimony to the fact that these compounds are transported over vast distances with air masses and deposited in regions devoid of any human pressure.

Two thirds of Svalbard archipelago islands in the High Arctic are permanently covered with glacial ice and snow. Polar bacterial communities in the southern part of Svalbard were characterized using an amplicon sequencing approach. A total of 52,928 pyrosequencing reads were analyzed in order to reveal bacterial community structures in stream and lake surface water samples from the Fuglebekken and Revvatnet basins of southern Svalbard. Depending on the samples examined, bacterial communities at a higher taxonomic level mainly consisted either of Bacteroidetes, Betaproteobacteria, and Microgenomates (OP11) or Planctomycetes, Betaproteobacteria, and Bacteroidetes members, whereas a population of Microgenomates was prominent in 2 samples. At the lower taxonomic level, bacterial communities mostly comprised Microgenomates, Comamonadaceae, Flavobacteriaceae, Legionellales, SM2F11, Parcubacteria (OD1), and TM7 members at different proportions in each sample. The abundance of OTUs shared in common among samples was greater than 70%, with the exception of samples in which the proliferation of Planctomycetaceae, Phycisphaeraceae, and Candidatus Methylacidiphilum spp. lowered their relative abundance. A multi-variable analysis indicated that As, Pb, and Sb were the main environmental factors influencing bacterial profiles. We concluded that the bacterial communities in the polar aquatic ecosystems examined mainly consisted of freshwater and marine microorganisms involved in detritus mineralization, with a high proportion of zooplankton-associated taxa also being identified.

Agricultural activity results in ground and surface water pollution from nitrogen and phosphorus compounds, which results from the excessive use of fertilizers containing these ingredients [1,2]. High concentrations of nitrogen compounds pose a threat to animal and human health and, in the case of surface waters (lakes, seas, and rivers), these pollutants can lead to eutrophication, which disturbs the ecological balance of the aquatic environment [3][4][5][6].Clean water is vital to human life and the proper functioning of natural ecosystems; as a result, the protection of water quality is one of the priorities identified by the European strategy for environmental protection. To protect water from nitrogen pollution, the EU member states are obliged to comply with the Nitrates Directive (91/676/EEC).Pol. J. Environ. Stud. Vol. 24, No. 1 (2015), [175][176][177][178][179][180][181][182][183][184] AbstractAgricultural activity results in water pollution from nitrogen and phosphorus compounds. Increased concentrations of nitrogen compounds pose a threat to animal and human health.The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of agriculture in a catchment basin on the level of surface water pollution from biogenic compounds.Spatial analysis of the land cover was conducted using GIS and was based on data from the Corine Land Cover databases.The study results indicated that high concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus compounds existed in the surface waters. In the surface water, high concentrations of biogenic compounds occurred in both primarily agricultural catchments and in urbanized drainage areas. Water may be regarded as eutrophicated or at high risk of eutrophication because the majority of the nitrate concentrations at the monitoring sites exceeded a limit of 10 mg·dm -3 NO 3 2-. Inadequate farming practices and poor sanitary conditions on farmsteads result in the leaching of biogenic substances into the water. To protect water from biogenic pollutants, it is necessary to adopt a new approach to fertilizer use and to improve the sanitary conditions of agricultural properties, which can be achieved by, among other things, the installation of drainage systems in rural areas. Our recommendations include the protection of river valleys as follows: by stopping deforestation, by preserving natural riparian vegetation, and by reducing the volume of intensified agricultural activity or introducing so-called "precision farming. "

Abstract:Surface active agents (SAA) with negative charge of polar group are named as anionic compounds. They are the main constituent of most products containing synthetic surfactants. The linear alkylbenzene sulfonates (LAS), alkyl ethoxysulfates (AES) and alkyl sulfates (AS) are typically applied from this class of compounds. Those surfactants are ingredients of household detergents and cleaners, laundry detergents, cosmetic etc. Moreover they can be applied in the paper, textile and tanning industry as optical brighteners, dispersant, wetting and suspending agents. They can be substrates in the formulation of different products like dyes, pigments, pesticides, exchange resins, plasticizers and pharmaceuticals. Anionic surfactants after use are passed into sewage-treatment plants, where they are partially degraded and adsorbed to sewage sludge (applied in agriculture fields). Finally, the anionic SAA or their degradation products are discharged into surface waters and onto bottom sediments, soils or living organisms. Therefore, it is important (widely application, bioaccumulation, toxicity for living organisms) to investigate the environmental fate of those class of compounds in more details. This research involves determination the concentration of anionic surfactants with use appropriated analytical techniques in environmental samples The official methodology for determination of anionic SAA in liquid samples is based on the ion-pair reaction of these analytes compounds with methylene blue (MB) and an extraction with toxic solvent chloroform. During isolation step of anionic compounds from solid samples are employed Soxhlet and ultrasonic-assisted extraction techniques with use of methanol or mixture of other organic solvents as extraction medium. To overcome disadvantages of those traditional techniques were applied following techniques at sample preparation step from liquid and solid matrices: solid-phase extraction (SPE) and solid-phases microextraction (SPME); accelerated solvent extraction (ASE), microwave-assisted extraction (MAE), supercritical fluid extraction (SFE), respectively. For estimate total concentration of anionic analytes in extracts the spectrophotometric technique is used (as official regulation). For determination concentration of individual analytes were applied gas (derivatization step requires) and liquid chromatography mainly with mass spectrometry technique. The presence of anionic surface active agents was confirmed in various ecosystems (liquid and solid environmental samples).