Arctic regions experience metal pollution, despite their remote location, and the distribution and migration of those metals determine their potential impact on the local environment. Here, a High-Arctic catchment (Revelva, Svalbard) located remotely from human-induced pollution sources is studied with respect to the distribution and migration of chosen trace elements (Ag, Al, As, B, Ba , the highest mean-weighted concentration noted for Sr (42.5 lg L -1 ). The concentrations in the river water were likely influenced by both natural and human-activity-related processes. These factors can produce substances of the same chemical composition (e.g. carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide and metals may be emitted both by a volcanic eruption and by industrial sources). Therefore, chemometric techniques were used in the current paper to distinguish the multiple sources of pollution in the Revelva catchment. The authors were seeking to determine whether there is indeed evidence for contamination, sufficient to cause environmental damage in polar region. As a result, it was shown that the long-range transport could play an important role in shaping the metal concentration profile of this Arctic tundra environment, capturing both the influence of volcanic eruptions within the region and the human activity in a range of distances from the study site.

A solid phase extraction technique for the determination of platinum(IV) at trace levels by inductively coupled plasma mass spectromA solid phase extraction technique for the determination of platinum(IV) at trace levels by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) was developed. The method was based on retention of platinum in a sample on silica gel modified with aminepropyl groups. The retention of platinum(IV) from the sample solution and the recovery of platinum with 1.0 mol L−1 thiourea solution were quantitative. The relative standard deviation (RSD) was calculated as 5% (n = 7) at the 10 ng L−1 level. The enrichment factor was found to be (50-fold) for 250 mL of water sample. Under optimum conditions, the method detection limit (MDL) was found to be 1 ng L−1 for platinum in water matrices. Recoveries of Pt from spike addition to atmospheric water samples were quantitative (80–95%). The present method was used for the determination of platinum in precipitation, throughfall and runoff water samples.

The Służew Stream, a 14.9 km long watercourse, is part of an ancient river called Sadurka that starts its course in the Warsaw district of Ochota and flows into the Wilanów Lake. In the 19 th and 20 th centuries, the watercourse received industrial and municipal sewage from Warsaw and its environs, but nowadays only rain and snow meltwater is discharged into the stream. Freshwater sediments of five reservoirs in the catchment area of the Służew Stream-Wilanów Lake, Powsinów Lake, Pond in the Horse Racing area, Lake at Morgi and South Pond in the Wilanów Parkwere analysed for the contents of Cr, Cu, Pb, Zn, Ni, Cd and Hg. The following concentrations have been determined: chromiumfrom 5 to 274 mg/kg, copper-from 5 to 274 mg/kg, lead-from 3 to 310 mg/kg, zinc-from 44 to 1430 mg/kg, nickel-from 3 to 55 mg/kg, cadmium-from 0.3 to 37.3 mg/kg and mercury-from 0.010 to 0.810 mg/kg (Fig. 2-5). The studies have shown that water sediments of Pond in the Horse Racing area, South Pond and Wilanów Lake, supplied by the Służew Stream waters, are characterised by a very high content of heavy metals. In contrast, water sediments of Powsinów Lake and Lake at Morgi, recharged by drainage ditches flowing into the stream, are characterised by much lower concentrations of these elements, but the levels are still much greater than the geochemical background.

This paper presents the results of determination of selected characteristics (anions, cations, formaldehyde, hydrogen peroxide, phenols, TC, TIC, TOC and metals) in dew samples collected in six different sites in Poland. The influence of local parameters (e.g. wind speed, humidity) was investigated. Discriminant analysis was applied to the study of several dew samples collected from different sampling sites covering six agglomerations in Poland. Discriminant function analysis was used not only for classifying samples into different groups with a better than chance accuracy, but also for detecting the most important variables that discern between the groups of samples considered. In this way it was possible to identify which ions or other physicochemical features are responsible for the similarities or differences observed between different groups of dew samples. A good agreement with their origin and location was observed. It is interesting to note that the classification of all samples was dominated by pH, wind direction, pressure and temperature with a significant contribution of Na + and Cl -ions.© Versita Warsaw and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.

The paper gives the results of the first studies on the chemistry of cloud water collected during 3 mo (Aug.-Oct. 2010) in the free atmosphere over the area to the south of the Tri-City (Gdansk-Sopot-Gdynia) conurbation on the Gulf of Gdansk, Poland. Taken from cumulus, stratus, and stratocumulus clouds by means of an aircraft-mounted collector, the water samples were analyzed for the following contaminants: anions (chlorides, fluorides, nitrates, sulfates, and phosphates), cations (lithium, sodium, potassium, ammonium, calcium, and magnesium), and trace metals. In addition, pH values were measured, and the type and composition of suspended particulate matter was determined. We discuss the relationship between the concentration of inorganic ions and the type of cloud from which water was sampled. The chemistry is also likely related to the circulation pattern and inflow of clean air masses from the Baltic Sea. Moreover, a relationship was found between the composition of the samples examined and the location of pollutant emission sources.