The concentrations of Cu, Mn, Ni and Zn in the soil and litterfall, as well as influx of the elements to the soils with litterfall were studied in a mixed beech-pine-spruce stand in northern Poland during the years 2007–2009. Annual influx of litterfall to the soil amounted from 3.234 to 4.871 t/ha. Beech, pine and spruce litterfall contributed in total litterfall in 50.8−70.1%, 11.4−11.9% and 1.6−24.0% respectively. The following average annual concentrations of heavy metals in total litterfall during the 3-year study period were noticed: 2469.3–3469.2 mg Mn/kg, 153.6–160.8 mg/kg Zn, 8.0–14.3 mg Ni/kg and 5.0–6.8 mg Cu/kg. In general, the concentrations of Mn and Cu were higher in beech litterfall in comparison to pine and spruce. The contents of Zn and Ni in beech, pine and spruce litterfall were comparable. Annual influx of metals to the soil with litterfall was: 10341.6–14422.4 g/ha Mn, 460.3–748.1 g/ha Zn, 37.4–66.6 g/ha Ni and 20.2–31.8 g/ha Cu. The fluxes were higher for Mn, Zn and Ni, and comparable for Cu in relation to those observed in other beech, pine, spruce and mixed stands in northern Europe.

Theory and practice of environmental protection in the case of foundries in Europe and Asia

• Experience resulting from the cooperation with the foundries in a few European countries, China and India

• Phenomena and factors affecting the pollution of the natural environment and the implementation of measures aiming at the

environmental protection

Every specialist dealing with foundry processes and their impact on environmental pollution must have encountered in their professional

careers numerous situations in which the theory of environmental protection confronts the stark reality. The discrepancy between theory

and practice can particularly be noticed in foundry engineering in developing countries where the contrasts between different countries and

casting plants are extremely striking. The comparison of working conditions in European and Asian foundries provides a vast scope for

further observations and analyses. Environmental protection seems not only a concern of manufacturers of castings, but also of their

customers whose opinion exerts a significant influence on both the acceptability of working conditions and on the approach to

environmental pollution adopted in metal casting industry.

The article presents a number of examples of various outlooks on environmental issues in foundries manufacturing a wide range of cast

steel and cast iron castings, where different technologies and production processes are applied.

The research focuses on assessing the metal content, mainly copper, lead, iron and also silver in metallurgical slag samples from the area

where historical metallurgical industry functioned. In the smelter located in Mogiła, near Krakow (southern Poland), whose operation is

confirmed in sources from 1469, copper was probably refined as well as silver was separated from copper. Based on the change of

chemical and soil phase content and also taking cartographic and historical data into account, considering the restrictions resulting from

the modern land use the area was determined whose geochemical mapping can point to the location of the 15th century Jan Thurzo’s

smelter in Mogiła near Krakow. Moreover, using the same approach with the samples of this kind here as with hazardous waste, an

attempt has been made to assess their impact on the environment. Thereby, taking the geoenvironmental conditions into account, potential

impact of the industrial activity has been assessed, which probably left large scale changes in the substratum, manifested in the structure,

chemical content and soil phase changes. Discovering areas which are contaminated above the standard value can help to identify

historical human activities, and finding the context in artefacts allows to treat geochemical anomalies as a geochronological marker. For

this purpose the best are bed sediments, at present buried in the ground, of historical ditches draining the area of the supposed smelter.

Correlating their qualities with analogical research of archeologically identified slags and other waste material allows for reconstructing

the anthropopressure stages and the evaluation of their effects. The operation of Jan Thurzo’s smelter is significant for the history of

mining and metallurgy of Poland and Central and Eastern Europe.