Civilization development has contributed to environmental pollution. In recent years, the number of vehicles has increased significantly; according to the Central Statistical Office, the number of passenger cars in Poland in 2000 was nearly 10 million, while in 2020 it was slightly more than 25 million. The study aimed to determine the content and spatial distribution of trace elements (Fe, Mn, Cd, Pb, Cr, Ni, Zn and Cu) in the roadside topsoil along the trunk road Białystok–Budzisko on different types of land use (urban, rural, agricultural and forestal areas). Forty-five soil samples were collected from a 160 km road section, at intervals of approximately 4 km. Metal contents were analyzed by atomic absorption spectrometry. The concentrations of metals in roadside soils occurred in the following order: Fe > Mn > Zn > Cr > Cu > Pb > Ni > Cd. The average contents of Cd, Zn, Cu, and Pb were higher than the geochemical background values of the Polish soils. Moreover, the values of the Igeo showed for Cd moderate to strong, while for Zn, Cu and Pb, moderate soil contamination. The study indicates that significant metal-binding factors in the studied roadside soils are Fe and Mn oxides. The crucial source of metals is road transport, depending on its intensity, which means amount, type, and speed of vehicles. Moreover, based on the analysis of the course of the factor values and their dynamics, it was observed that the areas where typical activities connected with the population take place (urban and agricultural areas) are additional sources of heavy metals. The results of this paper are relevant to the prevention and control of heavy metal pollution in roadside soils. The study can contribute to reducing the concentration of toxic elements in ecosystems due to vehicle emissions with appropriate land-use policies.
This study aimed to determine the content and spatial distribution of metals (Ca, Mg, Fe, Na, K, Mn, Zn, Cr, Cu, Pb, Co) in sediments in the coastal zone of Ełckie Lake located in the area of "Green Lungs of Poland" in the north-eastern part of the country, depending on the land use (urban area, agricultural and forest area, and beaches). The concentration of metals was determined using atomic absorption spectrometry. The average contents of major elements in 28 sediment samples occurred in the following order: Ca > Mg > Fe > Na > K > Mn. The order of these elements in the coastal sediments located within the different parts of the catchment was identical. These elements may originate from natural sources such as the Earth’s crust, soil, and wind-blown dust from unpaved roads. The average contents of potentially toxic elements (PTEs) in the sediments were as follows: Cr > Zn > Pb > Cu > Co in agricultural and forest areas and beaches (the exception was Cu for beach B, which occurred at the end of the series). A different pattern occurred in urbanized areas: Zn > Cr > Cu > Pb > Co. The spatial distribution of heavy metals in the sediments indicated the highest contents in the shoreline adjacent to the urbanized part of the catchment. The primary sources of metals in sediment are transportation, coal burning, sanitary sewage from unsewered developments on the lakeshore, and storm runoff from roads. This was confirmed by positive correlations of Zn with Cu (r = 0.58), Pb (r = 0.90), Fe (r = 0.40). No correlations between the studied metals and organic matter were found, which may indicate its insignificant influence on metal content in the sediments. Pearson correlation coefficients also showed no relationship between sediment pH and the presence of metals. Factor analysis (FA) indicated that lithogenic (geogenic) and anthropogenic factors have almost equal shares in the distribution of most of the metals studied. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that the average contents of Zn, Cu, Co, and Na in the sediments from urbanized areas are statistically significantly higher than the sediments from other areas (rural/forest, beaches).
In this paper, the biosorption capacity of activated sludge sand bed was investigated for copper removal from wastewater. A sand bed consisting of three layers was used for the study: (1) filter gravel with a diameter of 2 to 3 mm, (2) a biological part inoculated with 200 ml of flocculent activated sludge with a dry weight of 5 kg/m 3 , (3) filter sand with a grain diameter of about 3 mm. The filter was fed with model wastewater prepared with sodium acetate, potassium nitrate, ammonium chloride, and potassium dihydrogen phosphate I and II basic. The source of Cu ions in the wastewater was CuSO 4 . The model wastewater used in this study was collected every 24 hours. The experiment was terminated when the concentration of Cu in the treated wastewater sample was equal to that in the treated wastewater. Such a phenomenon was indicative of the depletion of the sorption capacity of the tested bed, which was observed after 26 days. The concentration of copper in raw and effluent from the bed was studied using atomic absorption spectroscopy (ASA) in samples mineralized in nitric acid (HNO 3 ) with the addition of perhydrol (H 2 O 2 ). Two equilibrium models, Langmuir and Freudlich, were analyzed to study the absorption isotherms.
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