Ecotoxicological studies on the impact of copper smelter “Legnica” on living organisms

Abstract

Heavy metals constitute one of the major pollution sources in the environment and pose a constant threat to people and other living organisms. Mining areas are the most endangered and particularly highly exposed to the pollution. A good example of such area is a copper smelter plant „Legnica”. Therefore, the aim of the presented studies was to evaluate the toxicity within the area of smelter and, thus its impact on living organisms. The research hypothesis assumes that a copper smelter plant could have an adverse impact on the environment quality in the studied area. The studies were performed with ecotoxicological tests on plants and microorganisms. A potential susceptibility of the soil for the cultivation of crop plants was assessed as well. In our studies, a significant decrease in dehydrogenases activity was observed at the studied sites, although the permissible concentrations of copper were exceeded only at one site. The toxic effect on the length and development of examined plants was also recorded. Results show that heavy metals deriving from the copper smelter plant can still considerably influence the soil quality and living organisms.