Volume 53, Issue 7 e70020
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Spatial Distribution of Contamination With Selected Trace Metals in Mountain Soils of the Beskid Mały Mountains in Southern Poland

Paweł Miśkowiec

Corresponding Author

Paweł Miśkowiec

Department of Environmental Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland

Search for more papers by this author
First published: 10 July 2025

Funding: This research was carried out using infrastructure funded by the European Union in the framework of the Smart Growth Operational Programme, Measure 4.2; Grant No. POIR.04.02.00-00-D001/20, “ATOMIN 2.0 – Center for materials research on ATOMic scale for the INnovative economy”.

ABSTRACT

This study aimed to determine the levels, mobility, and concentration fluctuations of cadmium, lead, and zinc in soils southern Poland's Beskid Mały mountains. The examined massif is located approximately 60–100 km to the south and southeast of potential industrial contamination sources, including the Upper Silesian Coal Basin (USCB), the Katowice Iron Steelworks, as well as the Bukowno zinc–lead ore mine and smelter. Soil pollution in the study area was assessed utilizing the geoaccumulation index and the potential ecological risk index. At the same time, the Bureau Communitaire de Reference (BCR) sequential extraction technique was employed to assess the mobility of the elements. The results indicate a discernible influence of industrial sources on mountainous environmental contamination, with a robust correlation among lead, zinc, and cadmium concentrations, affirming a common origin. Furthermore, a statistically significant disparity in metal concentrations was observed between the leeward and windward sides of the mountains, notwithstanding the relatively low absolute height. This phenomenon has not been previously documented in low-altitude regions (below 1000 m above sea level). Therefore, despite their modest height, the studied highlands serve as an impediment to the dissemination of airborne pollutants. The research presented here also paves the way for further analyses and attempts to systematize information on the minimum height of a mountain barrier as a function of its distance from potential sources of pollution.

Conflicts of Interest

The author has declared no conflicts of interest.

Data Availability Statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

The full text of this article hosted at iucr.org is unavailable due to technical difficulties.