15 research outputs found
Lead concentration and the content of selected macroelements in lake sediments in Poland
Lead has been used extensively for thousands of years. Once introduced into the environment,
like any other heavy metal, lead accumulates in soil and sediments. High lead concentrations
in river and lake sediments can be harmful to aquatic organisms. At present, uncontaminated
water sediments in the northern and central parts of Poland contain below 9 mg of lead
per kg. The lakes located within the following lake districts: Greater Poland, Pomeranian and
Masurian, provided 409 samples of surface sediments from deep spots (the profundal zone). All
the samples were tested for the content of Pb and other selected macroelements. The content of
Ca, Mg, Fe, K, Mn, Na, P, Pb and S was determined by ICP-OES and the total organic carbon
(TOC) was evaluated by the coulometric titration method. The observed range of lead concentration
was from below 3 to 222 mg kg-1. The average content was 37 mg kg-1, the geometric mean
30 mg kg-1, and the median 33 mg kg-1. In the majority of samples, the lead concentration was
higher than the geochemical background. Only in 5.77% of the samples, the lead content was
lower than 10 mg kg-1. The lead concentration in the sediments was relatively well correlated
with the total organic carbon (r = 0.59), aluminium (r = 0.45) and sulphur (r = 0.47), moderately
correlated with iron (r = 0.26) and potassium (r = 0.28), very weakly correlated with phosphorus
(r = 0.12) and negatively correlated with the calcium concentration (r = -0.28). No correlation
was observed for manganese (r = -0.05), magnesium (r = 0.07) and sodium (r = -0.07). Factor
analysis revealed the presence of two factors that together accounted for nearly 45% of variation.
The first factor included aluminium, potassium and magnesium, and the second one - sulphur and organic carbon. The lead share was low in the first factor (0.343), but very high in the
second factor (0.757). Based on the results of the factor analysis, it can be assumed that lead in
the organic matter-rich sediments of the profundal zone is deposited mainly in the form of sulphides.
Lead concentration varied among the sediments obtained from various lake districts; it
was lower in the lakes located within the Pomeranian Lake District than in those from Greater
Poland and Masurian Lakes.Ołów jest wykorzystywany powszechnie od tysięcy lat. Uruchomiony do środowiska, podobnie
jak inne metale ciężkie, podlega akumulacji w glebach i osadach wodnych. W osadach
rzecznych i jeziornych duża zawartość Pb może szkodliwie oddziaływać na organizmy wodne. We
współczesnych niezanieczyszczonych osadach wodnych na obszarze północnej i środkowej części
Polski zawartość ołowiu wynosi poniżej 9 mg kg-1. Z jezior Pojezierzy: Wielkopolskiego, Pomorskiego
i Mazurskiego pobrano 409 próbek powierzchniowych osadów z głęboczków jezior (strefa
profundalna). We wszystkich próbkach określono zawartość Pb oraz wybranych pierwiastków
głównych. Zawartość Ca, Mg, Fe, K, Mn, Na, P, Pb i S określono metodą ICP-OES, a zawartość
węgla organicznego (TOC) – metodą kulometrycznego miareczkowania. Stężenie ołowiu wynosiło
od <3 do 222 mg kg-1, średnia zawartość – 37 mg kg-1, średnia geometryczna – 30 mg kg-1,
a mediana – 33 mg kg-1. W większości zbadanych próbek zawartość ołowiu była podwyższona
w stosunku do wartości tła geochemicznego. Jedynie w 5,77% próbek zawartość ołowiu była
niższa niż 10 mg kg-1. Stężenie ołowiu w osadach wykazuje stosunkowo wysoką korelację
z zawartością węgla organicznego (r = 0,59), glinu (r = 0,45) i siarki (r = 0,47), słabą – ze
stężeniem żelaza (r = 0,26) i potasu (r = 0,28), bardzo słabą – ze stężeniem fosforu (r = 0,12),
ujemną – z zawartością wapnia (r = -0,28) oraz brak korelacji ze stężeniem manganu (r = -0,05),
magnezu (r = 0,07) i sodu (r = -0,07). Analiza czynnikowa wykazała obecność 2 czynników,
które łącznie wyjaśniają blisko 45% zmienności. Pierwszy czynnik grupuje glin, potas i magnez,
drugi – siarkę i węgiel organiczny. Udział ołowiu w czynniku pierwszym jest niski (0,343),
a w drugim – bardzo wysoki – 0,757. Na podstawie wyników analizy czynnikowej można przyjąć,
że w bogatych w materię organiczną osadach strefy profundalnej jezior ołów występuje przede
wszystkim w formie siarczków. Zaobserwowano zróżnicowanie w zawartości ołowiu w osadach
różnych pojezierzy; osady jezior Pojezierza Pomorskiego zawierają mniej Pb niż osady jezior
Pojezierzy Wielkopolskiego i Mazurskiego
Zależność między zawartością ołowiu a zawartością wybranych pierwiastków głównych w osadach jezior Polski
Lead has been used extensively for thousands of years. Once introduced into the environment,
like any other heavy metal, lead accumulates in soil and sediments. High lead concentrations
in river and lake sediments can be harmful to aquatic organisms. At present, uncontaminated
water sediments in the northern and central parts of Poland contain below 9 mg of lead
per kg. The lakes located within the following lake districts: Greater Poland, Pomeranian and
Masurian, provided 409 samples of surface sediments from deep spots (the profundal zone). All
the samples were tested for the content of Pb and other selected macroelements. The content of
Ca, Mg, Fe, K, Mn, Na, P, Pb and S was determined by ICP-OES and the total organic carbon
(TOC) was evaluated by the coulometric titration method. The observed range of lead concentration
was from below 3 to 222 mg kg-1. The average content was 37 mg kg-1, the geometric mean
30 mg kg-1, and the median 33 mg kg-1. In the majority of samples, the lead concentration was
higher than the geochemical background. Only in 5.77% of the samples, the lead content was
lower than 10 mg kg-1. The lead concentration in the sediments was relatively well correlated
with the total organic carbon (r = 0.59), aluminium (r = 0.45) and sulphur (r = 0.47), moderately
correlated with iron (r = 0.26) and potassium (r = 0.28), very weakly correlated with phosphorus
(r = 0.12) and negatively correlated with the calcium concentration (r = -0.28). No correlation
was observed for manganese (r = -0.05), magnesium (r = 0.07) and sodium (r = -0.07). Factor
analysis revealed the presence of two factors that together accounted for nearly 45% of variation.
The first factor included aluminium, potassium and magnesium, and the second one - sulphur and organic carbon. The lead share was low in the first factor (0.343), but very high in the
second factor (0.757). Based on the results of the factor analysis, it can be assumed that lead in
the organic matter-rich sediments of the profundal zone is deposited mainly in the form of sulphides.
Lead concentration varied among the sediments obtained from various lake districts; it
was lower in the lakes located within the Pomeranian Lake District than in those from Greater
Poland and Masurian Lakes.Ołów jest wykorzystywany powszechnie od tysięcy lat. Uruchomiony do środowiska, podobnie
jak inne metale ciężkie, podlega akumulacji w glebach i osadach wodnych. W osadach
rzecznych i jeziornych duża zawartość Pb może szkodliwie oddziaływać na organizmy wodne. We
współczesnych niezanieczyszczonych osadach wodnych na obszarze północnej i środkowej części
Polski zawartość ołowiu wynosi poniżej 9 mg kg-1. Z jezior Pojezierzy: Wielkopolskiego, Pomorskiego
i Mazurskiego pobrano 409 próbek powierzchniowych osadów z głęboczków jezior (strefa
profundalna). We wszystkich próbkach określono zawartość Pb oraz wybranych pierwiastków
głównych. Zawartość Ca, Mg, Fe, K, Mn, Na, P, Pb i S określono metodą ICP-OES, a zawartość
węgla organicznego (TOC) – metodą kulometrycznego miareczkowania. Stężenie ołowiu wynosiło
od <3 do 222 mg kg-1, średnia zawartość – 37 mg kg-1, średnia geometryczna – 30 mg kg-1,
a mediana – 33 mg kg-1. W większości zbadanych próbek zawartość ołowiu była podwyższona
w stosunku do wartości tła geochemicznego. Jedynie w 5,77% próbek zawartość ołowiu była
niższa niż 10 mg kg-1. Stężenie ołowiu w osadach wykazuje stosunkowo wysoką korelację
z zawartością węgla organicznego (r = 0,59), glinu (r = 0,45) i siarki (r = 0,47), słabą – ze
stężeniem żelaza (r = 0,26) i potasu (r = 0,28), bardzo słabą – ze stężeniem fosforu (r = 0,12),
ujemną – z zawartością wapnia (r = -0,28) oraz brak korelacji ze stężeniem manganu (r = -0,05),
magnezu (r = 0,07) i sodu (r = -0,07). Analiza czynnikowa wykazała obecność 2 czynników,
które łącznie wyjaśniają blisko 45% zmienności. Pierwszy czynnik grupuje glin, potas i magnez,
drugi – siarkę i węgiel organiczny. Udział ołowiu w czynniku pierwszym jest niski (0,343),
a w drugim – bardzo wysoki – 0,757. Na podstawie wyników analizy czynnikowej można przyjąć,
że w bogatych w materię organiczną osadach strefy profundalnej jezior ołów występuje przede
wszystkim w formie siarczków. Zaobserwowano zróżnicowanie w zawartości ołowiu w osadach
różnych pojezierzy; osady jezior Pojezierza Pomorskiego zawierają mniej Pb niż osady jezior
Pojezierzy Wielkopolskiego i Mazurskiego
Phytoextraction of copper and nickel from soils characterized by different degrees of chloride salinity
Thallium hyperaccumulation in Polish populations of Biscutella laevigata (Brassicaceae)
Biscutella laevigata L. is known as a Tl hyperaccumulator. In Poland Biscutella laevigata occurs in the Tatra Mts
(Western Carpathians) and on the calamine waste heap in Bolesław near Olkusz (Silesian Upland). The purpose
of this work was to evaluate whether plants of both populations were able to accumulate an elevated amount of
thallium in their tissues. The plants were cultivated in calamine soil in a glasshouse for a season and studied at
different ages – from 2-week-old seedlings to 10-month-old adults. Additionally, the plants were grown for ten
weeks in calamine soil with EDTA to enhance Tl bioavailability. The total content of Tl in plant tissues after digestion
was determined by ICP-MS, whereas its distribution in leaves was studied by LA-ICP-MS. Of the total content
of Tl in the soil in the range of (15.2–66.7) mg·kgˉ¹d.m., only (1.1–2.1) mg·kgˉ¹d.m. was present in a bioavailable
form. The mean content in all the plants grown on the soil without EDTA was 98.5 mg·kgˉ¹d.m. The largest content
was found in leaves – 164.9 mg·kgˉ¹d.m. (max. 588.2 mg·kgˉ¹d.m.). In the case of plants grown on the soil enriched
with EDTA, the mean content in plants increased to 108.9 mg·kgˉ¹d.m., max. in leaves – 138.4 mg·kgˉ¹d.m.
(max. 1100 mg·kgˉ¹d.m.). The translocation factor was 6.1 in the soil and 2.2 in the soil with EDTA; the bioconcentration
factor amounted to 10.9 and 5.8, respectively. The plants from both populations did not contain a Tl
amount clearly indicating hyperaccumulation (100–500 mg·kgˉ¹d.m.), however, high (>1) translocation and bioconcentration
factors suggest such an ability. It is a characteristic species-wide trait; B. laevigata L. is a facultative
Tl hyperaccumulator. The largest Tl amount was located at the leaf base, the smallest at its top. Thallium also
occurred in trichomes, which was presented for the first time; in this way plants detoxify Tl in the above-ground
parts. Leaves were much more hairy in the Bolesław plants. This is an adaptation for growth in the extreme conditions
of the zinc-lead waste heap with elevated Tl quantity
Chain of Testimony: The Holocaust Researcher as Surrogate Witness
Despite extensive critical debate, a positivist view of historical research which aspires to a dispassionate engagement with sources is still rife. Yet certain types of traumatic material, such as survivors' testimony and the Scrolls of Auschwitz, evoke powerful emotions and can stimulate in the researcher various kinds of phantasy. Is there some way that we can address these issues without ‘psychologising’ the Holocaust and Holocaust research? Can we simultaneously respect the historical material, the memory of the victims and the often unruly feelings that Holocaust research can excite? Can rigorous analysis sit comfortably alongside a more psycho-dynamically reflexive stance, and might the process of research be enriched by it?
This paper discusses these issues through the concept of a ‘chain of testimony’ into which the researcher is inserted, thereby becoming in some sense a surrogate witness. It reflects upon the psycho-social dimensions of my own work and that of other children of Holocaust survivors, as well as other researchers in the field, including those examining the Scrolls of Auschwitz
The recognizable European. Sebald’s and Tišma’s human geographies of stitches and scars
This article describes how two novels with a strong European presence from the 1990s onward, Aleksandar Tišma’s The Book of Blam and W. G. Sebald’s Austerlitz, offer an understanding of the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s through the prism of the Holocaust. First, a reading of Austerlitz reveals an intriguing lacuna in Sebald’s melancholic map of Europe. I read this lacuna, using Judith Butler’s notion of ‘the recognizable human’, as Sebald’s predominantly Western-European perspective. I then place this next to Aleksandar Tišma’s conception of Srednja Evropa. This European middle space offers more suggestive and ambivalent East-West imagery for post-1989 Europe, and also, as I contend, a more complex framing of the Yugoslav wars with reference to the Holocaust. The essay will then try to assess literary fiction’s renewed claim on the real, particularly with respect to the distribution of ‘the recognizable human’ within the various zones of Europe