Department of the Impact of Diffuse Pollutants on the Environment

Information about the Department

The only research institution in Poland to date that deals with research and development of methods to prevent and reduce the long-term effects of so-called diffuse (non-point) emissions into the atmosphere and their deposition on large areas, storage of various types of waste, agriculture, transportation, etc., including historical pollution. The research work of the department includes: Determination of total cumulative deposition of pollutants in the area using natural archives; biogeochemical transformation of wastes over time, binding/release and migration of trace elements in wastes, soils and soils of aeration and saturation zone; uptake by plants, effects of climate change on these processes; phytoremediation. The plant participates in the development of standards at the international level (CEN and ISO) and in scientific cooperation with numerous countries.

History of the Department of the Impact of Diffuse Pollutants on the Environment

Scientific Team

Head of Department

Full Professor

Irena Twardowska

+48 32 271 64 81, ext. 133

+48 728 413 215

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BSc.

Halina Mędrek

+48 32 271 64 81 ext. 217

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PhD

Ewa Miszczak

+48 32 271 64 81 ext. 110

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PhD

Sebastian Stefaniak

+48 32 271 64 81, ext. 222

+48 728 413 222

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Cooperation offer

Laboratory tests concerning:
- physicochemical properties of furnace wastes from power plants to determine environmentally safe use or disposal,
- the quality of pore water, surface water, groundwater, soil, and landfill gas in the vicinity of power plant waste landfills and in the area of impact of power plant emissions,
- the content of macronutrients and trace metals (including Hg, As, Ag, V, Sb) in waste and leachate.
Projects of the local water measurement network and monitoring of its execution. Monitoring of soil, groundwater and surface water, and landfill gas, creating a database and evaluating the results.
Developing methods and guidelines for industrial waste landfill design, remediation of polluted areas, and hazardous waste disposal (liquid and solid) using waste materials as sorbent and insulating materials.
Optimization and development of modern solutions in the field of industrial and municipal waste management.
Preparation of the documents required for the issuance of a permit under water law for water abstraction and wastewater disposal.
Expert opinions and projects on the use of power plant ashes and other inorganic and organic waste materials as permeable barriers in landfills for hard coal and other sulphide reactive waste.
Evaluation of the physicochemical properties of coal mining and other industrial solid wastes with respect to short- and long-term environmental impacts, and guidelines for environmentally safe use and disposal.
Evaluation of power plant wastes and the conditions required for their environmentally safe use underground in abandoned and active mines, for backfilling tunnels, constructing dams, preventing fires and methane hazards, reducing ground surface deformation, and facilitating the ventilation system.

Scientific achievements

Development and standardization of a soil pollution assessment method based on soil magnetometry ISO 21226: 2019 "Soil quality - Guidance for screening of soils polluted with toxic elements by soil magnetometry".
To carry out the magnetic and mineralogical properties of technogenic magnetic particles (TMPs) emitted into the environment by various industries and to indicate the magnetic parameters that help in their identification.
Development of a methodology for the identification of anthropogenic soil layers and for the localization of subterranean historical waste dumps based on the integrated use of different geophysical techniques (magnetic and geoelectric).
Development of a model for the spatial distribution of magnetic susceptibility of forest soils in the subcanopy of different tree species growing in polluted areas.
Performance of characteristic magnetic profiles for the upper soil layers of different soil types and different forms of soil use.
Development of a methodology to separate the magnetic signal from natural and anthropogenic processes.