Water Turbidity and Suspended Particulate Matter Concentration at Dredged Material Dumping Sites in the Southern Baltic.

Dredged material dumping is an activity that causes some of the greatest changes in coastal waters. It results in the need to regularly monitor the properties of seawater related to water quality. In this study, we present the first wide-ranging attempt to correlate seawater turbidity and suspended particulate matter (SPM) concentrations within dumping sites and adjacent waters on the basis of in situ measurements.

The impact of pesticides used at the agricultural land of the Puck commune on the environment of the Puck Bay.

Background: The Puck commune is one of the largest agricultural regions in the Pomeranian Voivodship that due to the pollution of the coastal zone negatively affects the functioning of the Puck Bay, including health of its inhabitants, and causes decrease in tourism as well as in overall economic value of the region. The objective of the undertaken study was to assess the extent of risk to the environment posed by the pesticides used in agricultural production in the coastal area of the Puck commune.

Methods: The study focused on organochlorine insecticides (DDT and its metabolites: α, β, ϒ, δ-HCH, aldrin, dieldrin, endrin, isodrine), glyphosate and its metabolite AMPA, and 309 active substances used as pesticides.

Risk of phosphorus losses in surface runoff from agricultural land in the Baltic Commune of Puck in the light of assessment performed on the basis of DPS indicator.

Background: In order to counteract the eutrophication of waterways and reservoirs, a basic risk assessment of phosphorus (P) losses in the surface runoff from agricultural land should be included in water management plans. A new method has been developed to assess the risk of P losses by estimating the degree of P saturation (DPS) based on the P concentration of the water extract water-soluble P.

Methods: The risk of P losses in surface runoff from agricultural land in the Puck Commune on the Baltic Sea Coast was assessed with the DPS method.

[Drug addiction in the medico-legal certification of the Department of Forensic Medicine of Medical University of Gdańsk in the years 1996-2005].

The objective of the study was the presentation of the type and extent of drug addiction in the region covered by the Department of Forensic Medicine of the Medical University of Gdańsk based on the results of analyses of biological samples collected from the living and deceased subjects during the decade from 1996 to 2005. The studies were based on 110 cases of lethal intoxication after psychoactive substances overdosing and 63 cases of living people involved in the infringement of the law. Body-fluids (blood, urine) and post-mortem samples (stomach contents, small intestine contents, liver, kidney, brain and lung tissues) were collected and stored at -20 OC.

[Hazard for human health and life by unintentional use of synthetic sibutramine, which was sold as Chinese herbal product "meizitanc"].

Unlabelled: Problem of adulteration of herbal medicines with synthetic drugs is getting a common and dangerous phenomenon in Poland. The purpose of this study was the qualitative estimation of content of the Chinese herbal medicine for slimming "Meizitanc" as well as the estimation of hazard for human health and life. Twenty herbal packages which were secured by police in the 2006 year were investigated.

[Sampling, storage and transport of biological materials collected from living and deceased subjects for determination of concentration levels of ethyl alcohol and similarly acting substances. A proposal of updating the blood and urine sampling protocol].

The present paper emphasizes the most common mistakes committed at the beginning of an analytical procedure. To shorten the time and decrease the cost of determinations of substances with similar to alcohol activity, it is postulated to introduce mass-scale screening analysis of saliva collected from a living subject at the site of the event, with all positive results confirmed in blood or urine samples. If no saliva sample is collected for toxicology, a urine sample, allowing for a stat fast screening analysis, and a blood sample, to confirm the result, should be ensured.

[Determination of nicotine and cotinine in human biological materials and their significance in toxicological studies].

The aim of this study was the preparation of reliable procedure of the determination of nicotine and cotinine both in classic (serum, urine) and alternative biological materials (hair, saliva) and evaluation of their significance for clinical and forensic toxicology. Biological material samples (blood, urine, saliva) were taken from patients after Percutaneous Trans-luminal Coronary Angioplasty (PTCA). The determination of cotinine and nicotine concentration in the biological material should be optimized depending on the aim of analysis.