The issue of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) in the water environment has gained increasing interest worldwide. To determine the nature and extent of this problem for Poland, this paper presents a review of research on the presence of PPCPs in Poland, looking at results for different water samples, including wastewater (before and after treatment), landfill leachate, surface water (standing water bodies and rivers), seawater, groundwater and drinking water. The review is based on over 50 scientific articles and dissertations referring to studies of PPCPs. It also briefly outlines possible sources and the fate of PPCPs in the aquatic environment. The review of Polish research has revealed that studies have previously covered at least 39 PPCP groups (270 compounds in total). These studies focused mainly on wastewater and rivers, and only a few concerned landfill leachate and seawater. They most often reported on nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and antibiotics. The highest concentrations of the analysed PPCPs were found mainly in raw wastewater (e.g., naproxen, up to 551,960 ng/L), but they were also occasionally found in surface water (e.g., azithromycin, erythromycin, irbesartan and metoprolol) and in groundwater (e.g., N,N-diethyl-meta-toluamide, known as DEET, up to 17,280 ng/L). Extremely high concentrations of bisphenol A (up to 2,202,000 ng/L) and diclofenac (up to 108,340 ng/L) were found in landfill leachate. Although numerous substances have been detected, PPCPs are still not monitored regularly, which makes it difficult to obtain a clear understanding of their incidence in the water environment.

On the basis of the analysis and interpretation of maps, published literature, and environmental reconnaissance, this article discusses environmental transformations in the area of the Kuźnica Warężyńska sand mine in southern Poland over the years 1944–2015. A comprehensive ecological analysis was carried out concerning spatial development, mining activity, hydrogeological and hydrological conditions as well as the biotic environment. Among the unfavourable changes found were a drastic reduction in the agricultural function of the area (from 7.03 to 0.47 km²), mainly due to periodic activity of sand mine in 1967–2002, covering an area of about 5.80 km², the destruction of the original biocenoses, the depletion and deterioration in quality of the groundwater resources, and man-made transformations of the hydrographic network (during the mine’s activity its length reached over 103 km). Vegetation changes during the 70-year period examined were closely related to human mining activity. The greatest changes occurred at the end of the 1960s when large areas of pine forest were cut down. The analysis of vegetation in the former workings demonstrated that the diversity of habitats within the workings results in a significant increase in species (367 plant species, 2002 birds) and community diversity (Molinion caeruleae, Molinion caeruleae, three Natura habitats) there compared to the adjacent areas. On the other hand, favourable changes included the construction of a flood control reservoir, with an area of 560 ha and a volume of 51 million m³, created in 2003–2005, making the area more attractive for tourism and recreation, and an increase in biodiversity, including the establishment of a Natura 2000 site.

Mining is an important branch of the economy, providing raw materials necessary for the economic and civilization development of the country

Based on the analysis and interpretation of maps, remote sensing data published in the literature, and environmental reconnaissance, this article discusses environmental transformations in the Wojkowice area in southern Poland (up to the year 2020). A comprehensive analysis was carried out concerning spatial development, mining activity, hydrogeological conditions and the biotic environment. The current state of the hydrogeological conditions was also characterized. Mining activity in the vicinity of the studied town caused significant changes in its relief, which contributed to its area dropping by about 5 m. In fact, these terrain forms are overgrown by various forms of vegetation that colonized these areas both naturally and as a result of forest reclamation. The contemporary vegetation of Wojkowice differs from the potential natural vegetation, which is an indicator of the complete anthropogenization of the natural environment. Over 100 years of industrial activity in Wojkowice has also contributed to a strong transformation of the groundwater. There has been a quantitative depletion of usable groundwater in the Triassic and Carboniferous formations. With inflows to the ore mines of up to 17 m³/min, the groundwater table has dropped by more than 60 m. The aquifer of Muschelkalk has been practically drained. At present, wells extract the waters from the Röth aquifer. There has been a major transformation of groundwater chemistry. The waters of the Triassic carbonate complex are anthropogenically transformated and are characterized by increased mineralization, multi-ionic types and usually with a quality class III and IV, and, therefore, they require some treatment.

The paper presents the varied presence of nitrates and phosphates in water from caves located in Częstochowa and Kraków, in urban, strongly anthropogenic conditions, representing the vadose zone of the fissure-karstic-porous massif of Upper Jurassic limestones. Hydrochemical research was carried out by the authors in the Cave on the Stone in Częstochowa in 2012–2015, in caves of the Zakrzówek horst from 1996 to 2002, and in the Dragon’s Cave by the research team of J. Motyka in 1995–1998. A number of NO₃ and PO₄ measurements were performed in waters sampled at these research sites: 20 measurements each of NO₃ and PO₄ at the Cave on the Stone, 228 of NO₃ and 422 of PO₄ at Zakrzówek, and 19 each of NO₃ and PO₄ at the Dragon’s Cave. To assess the quality aspect of N and P compounds in waters from the Cave on the Stone, the results of geochemical modelling were processed using PHREEQC software. In cave waters, the oxidised form of nitrogen NO₃⁻ predominates; in surface waters in the vicinity, unoxidised forms prevail: NH₄₊, NH₃, and NH₄SO₄⁻. Among phosphorus speciations, dissolved forms are dominant: HPO₄²⁻, H₂PO₄⁻, and the insoluble form CaHPO₄; in surface waters, these forms are practically absent. Transformations of water chemistry in ‘urban’ caves, often centuries old, manifest themselves in, inter alia, the occurrence of multi-ionic waters, including seasonal variations and extremely diversified concentrations, with very high concentrations in subpopulations of NO₃ (0.2–485 mg dm⁻³) and P (0.02–6.87 mg dm⁻³). The common presence of NO₃ in waters of the phreatic zone of the Częstochowa Upland, an area developed in an agricultural direction, is documented by, inter alia, the exploitation of intakes supplying the city of Częstochowa (10–57 mg dm⁻³, 2011) and crenological studies from 2008 to 2015 (NO₃, 2–58 mg dm⁻³), at simultaneously low phosphate concentrations (PO₄, 0.02–0.24 mg dm⁻³).

The article presents the impact of Zn and Pb ore mining and land use on ecohydrological changes in the area of the Biała Przemsza valley in the historical aspect, with particular emphasis on the period 1941–2021. GIS was used to analyse the maps to identify spatial and temporal changes in land use. The following trends could be observed in the spatial development of the Biała Przemsza valley: rapid urbanisation and industrialisation in the 21st century, marked reduction in the surface area of arable land and sands, and dynamics of the increase in the surface area occupied by forests. Notable changes occurred in the plant ecosystems between 1941 and 2021 due to land management. Groundwater level lowering due to mining activity resulted in the change from wet meadows to fresh or dry xerothermic grasslands, while forest cover increased by 4% within the catchment area. The hydrographic network evolved. After the commissioning of the Zn-Pb ore mines Olkusz and Pomorzany in the 1960s and 1970s, a regional depression cone with an area of 400 km² was formed, while the maximum groundwater inflows to the mines reached 360 m³/min. Changes in the hydrodynamic conditions have resulted in changes in the hydrogeochemical regime of the Triassic aquifer manifested by increased levels of, e.g., SO₄ and Cl. Wastewater with lignosulphonate compounds from the paper factory caused periodic degradation of some of the water flowing into the Pomorzany mine. As a result of mining activity, the character of some sections of the Biała Przemsza river changed to an infiltrating one, the quantitative depletion of groundwater resources within the range of the mine drainage cone occurred, river springs disappeared, and the flow in the river decreased. At the same time, mine water was discharged to the tributaries of the Biała Przemsza. A radical reduction in the flow of the Biała Przemsza and its tributaries occurred after the decommissioning of the Zn-Pb ore mines at the turn of 2021 and 2022.