Evaluation of pollution of Arenosols on the city beach in Gdansk, north Poland.

The purpose of the study was to assess the contamination of Arenosols on the beach, for this purpose the soil reaction and the content of heavy metals (Cd, Cu, Zn, Pb) were examined. To carry out the study, a municipal beach in Gdansk, Jantarowa Street, N Poland, which is heavily visited by tourists throughout the year, was selected. Twenty samples of sandy soil were taken from the beach, 18 samples from the designated bathing area and 2 control samples 500 meters away. They were taken every 10 meters from the surface layers of sandy soil (0-25 cm) using an Egner's stick. The surveys were performed in the spring of 2022. The construction of the beach was looked at and the possibilities of its economic use were analyzed. It focused on the problem of pollution of beaches around the world and pointed out the small amount of research on the subject, which may be related to the non-use of the beach area for activities other than tourism. Potential sources of pollution were analyzed and the most harmful ones were identifi ed with an indication of the connection to the presence of large industrial plants in the vicinity. It was determined whether the permissible standards for heavy metals and soil pH are exceeded based on the Regulation of the Minister of the Environment of September 1, 2016 on how to conduct an assessment of pollution of the earth's surface and the guidelines of the Institute of Fertilization and Soil Science in Puławy. No risk was found on the basis of trace metal limits, and therefore the sandy soil was considered uncontaminated with natural trace metal contents. The average cadmium content in the area is 0.073 mg·kg-1, zinc is 9.34 mg·kg-1, copper is 4.06 mg·kg-1, lead is 4.54 mg·kg-1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]