Railway transportation as a serious source of organic and inorganic pollution

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and heavy metal (Pb, Cd, Cu, Zn, Hg, Fe, Co, Cr, Mo) contents were established in soil and plant samples collected in different areas of the railway junction Iława Główna, Poland. Soil and plant samples were collected in four functional parts of the junction, i.e. the loading ramp, main track within platform area, rolling stock cleaning bay and the railway siding. It was found that all the investigated areas were strongly contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The PAH contamination of the soil was the highest in the railway siding and in the platform area (59,508 and 49,670 μg kg−1, respectively). In the loading ramp and cleaning bay, the PAH concentration in soil was lower but still relatively very high (17,948 and 15,376 μg kg−1, respectively). The contamination in the railway siding exceeded the average control level up to about 80 times. In the soil of all the investigated areas, four- and five-ring PAHs prevailed. The concentrations of PAHs were determined in four dominating species of plants found at the junction. The highest concentration was found in the aerial parts of Taraxacum officinale (22,492 μg kg−1) growing in the cleaning bay. The comparison of the soil contamination with PAHs in the investigated railway junction showed a very significant increase of the PAHs level since 1995. It was found that the heavy metal contamination was also very high. Pb, Zn, Hg and Cd were established at the highest levels in the railway siding area, whereas Fe concentration was the highest in the platform area. A significant increase in mercury content was observed in the cleaning bay area. The investigations proved very significant increase of contamination with PAHs and similar heavy metals contamination in comparison with the concentration determined in the same areas 13 years ago

QSAR studies on a number of pyrrolidin-2-one antiarrhythmic arylpiperazinyls

The activity of a number of 1-[3-(4-arylpiperazin-1-yl)propyl]pyrrolidin-2-one antiarrhythmic (AA) agents was described using the quantitative structure–activity relationship model by applying it to 33 compounds. The molecular descriptors of the AA activity were obtained by quantum chemical calculations combined with molecular modeling calculations. The resulting model explains up to 91% of the variance and it was successfully validated by four tests (LOO, LMO, external test, and Y-scrambling test). Statistical analysis shows that the AA activity of the studied compounds depends mainly on the PCR and JGI4 descriptors

Antiarrhythmic and antioxidant activity of novel pyrrolidin-2-one derivatives with adrenolytic properties

A series of novel pyrrolidin-2-one derivatives (17 compounds) with adrenolytic properties was evaluated for antiarrhythmic, electrocardiographic and antioxidant activity. Some of them displayed antiarrhythmic activity in barium chloride-induced arrhythmia and in the rat coronary artery ligation-reperfusion model, and slightly decreased the heart rate, prolonged P–Q, Q–T intervals and QRS complex. Among them, compound EP-40 (1-[2-hydroxy-3-[4-[(2-hydroxyphenyl)piperazin-1-yl]propyl]pyrrolidin-2-one showed excellent antiarrhythmic activity. This compound had significantly antioxidant effect, too. The present results suggest that the antiarrhythmic effect of compound EP-40 is related to their adrenolytic and antioxidant properties. A biological activity prediction using the PASS software shows that compound EP-35 and EP-40 can be characterized by antiischemic activity; whereas, compound EP-68, EP-70, EP-71 could be good tachycardia agents

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in peat cores from southern Poland: distribution in stratigraphic profiles as an indicator of PAH sources

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) concentrations were measured in 44 peat samples taken from different stratigraphical layers of 12 mires located in four regions of southern Poland (the Sudeten and Tatra Mountains, Silesian Lowland and Orawa Basin). Relationships between PAH concentrations and botanical composition (genus) of the peat and its geochemical properties (contents of ash, nitrogen, organic carbon, humic acid, fulvic acid and exchangeable cations, as well as pH) were explored. The total concentration of 15 USEPA PAHs and benzo[e]pyrene was between 39 and 384 ng g-1 in all samples except those from Lasówka, a fen in the Sudeten Mountains, where an extremely high PAH concentration (3746 ng g-1) was recorded. The concentrations of PAHs apart from perylene were influenced by the location and type of mire, indicating that most of these compounds were of anthropic origin. In some samples the perylene concentration greatly exceeded the total concentration of the other 16 PAHs measured. The high concentrations of perylene in deeper peat layers may have arisen through sorption from water during peat formation, or through biogenic processes