Anna ŚWIERCZ¹ & Ewelina SMORZEWSKA^2
1Chair of Environmental Protection and Modelling, Jan Kochanowski University, ul. Świętokrzyska 15, Kielce, Poland, e-mail:swierczag@poczta.onet.pl
²Institute of Biology, Jan Kochanowski University, ul. Świętokrzyska 15, Kielce, Poland, e-mail:ewelina.smorzewska@gmail.com

ASSESSMENT OF THE LONG-TERM ANTHROPOGENIC IMPACT ON THE DEGREE OF HEAVY METAL CONTAMINATION OF ORGANIC ALLUVIA DEPOSITED IN THE AREA OF THE BIAŁOGOŃSKI POND

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The study area is located in the southern part of the city of Kielce, in the district named Białogon, where metallurgical and machine-building industries have operated for more than 200 years. The immediate cause for creating the Białogoński Pond was power demand of the Alexander’s Metalworks functioning in this area. In 1993, the Pond underwent drainage, whereas the soils formed on its ground still indicate significant enrichment in heavy metals. The content of heavy metals (mg·kg^-1) in soils of the study area ranges from: 22.40 to 395.73 for Cr; 14.80 to 177.53 for Cu; 21.30 to 103.1 for Ni; 47.00 to 1617 for Pb; and 456.60 to 1646 for Zn. The largest exceedances among the analysed soil samples were noted for Zn, Pb and Cr, i.e. 100%, 85.7% and 42.9% of samples, respectively. At present, the physicochemical properties of developed mineral-organic and organic formations (pH 6.0-8.0 as well as high organic matter content) do not facilitate leaching and migration of deposited elements to environment, including ground and underground waters. Nevertheless, the location of the contaminated area within the protection zone of the largest municipal drinking water intake for Kielce requires conducting continuous monitoring.