Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are synthetic organic compounds that were widely used in industrial applications throughout the 20th century. Due to their chemical stability, resistance to degradation and ability to bioaccumulate and biomagnify through food chains, PCBs pose long-term environmental and health risks. Due to these characteristics, PCBs have been globally regulated as persistent organic pollutants (POPs), despite being banned from production in most countries decades ago. This study investigates temporal trends in PCB contamination in urban soils of Bucharest over a 20-year period (2002–2022), focusing on six principal congeners (PCB 28, 52, 101, 138, 153, and 180) sampled from 13 locations, including roadsides and urban parks. Gas chromatography and spatial analysis using inverse distance weighting (IDW) revealed a marked reduction in Σ6PCB concentrations, declining from 0.0159 mg/kg in 2002 to 0.0065 mg/kg in 2022, with statistically significant differences confirmed by Kruskal–Wallis analysis (p < 0.05). This decline is primarily attributed to reduced emissions, source control measures, and natural attenuation. However, the persistence of PCBs in localized hotspots is influenced by secondary dispersion mechanisms, such as atmospheric deposition and surface runoff, which redistribute contaminants rather than eliminate them. Health risk assessments via ingestion, dermal absorption, and inhalation routes confirmed negligible carcinogenic risk for both adults and children. Although measurable progress has been achieved, the persistence of localized contamination underscores the need for targeted remediation strategies and sustained environmental monitoring to protect vulnerable urban areas from recontamination.

With a large and growing demand in the market, rapeseed (Brassica napus subsp. napus.) is a crop with relatively high requirements for macronutrient fertilization. The aim of the experiment was to study the effect of mineral fertilization with different doses of nitrogen and phosphorus on the accumulation of microelements in the vegetative organs and grains of oilseed rape plants.The experiment was carried out in the long-term experimental fields of SCDA Livada. There were taken and analyzed 96 plant samples and the results were statistically processed. Fertilization with nitrogen and phosphorus led to statistically assured changes in the contents of microelements, mostly in the aerial parts of the rapeseed. Regarding their accumulation in the grain, there were obtained variations of contents that were not significant to all doses of fertilizer applied. The conclusions of the experiments showed that the evaluation of contents of manganese, iron, zinc, and copper in rapeseed plants can help in choosing the optimal dose of mineral fertilizers in order to assure balanced microelement composition in plants and thus, consequently to avoid their deficiency.

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) exhibit similar environmental behavior, as both classes of compounds are persistent, hydrophobic, and tend to accumulate in soils, sediments, and biota. The present study aims to determine whether, and to what extent, these compounds contribute to soil contamination as a result of combustion processes such as waste incineration, landfill fires, petroleum product combustion, vegetation burning, and domestic burning activities. For this purpose, 33 soil samples were collected and the concentration of PCBs and PAHs were quantified by gas chromatography and ultrahigh performance liquid chromatography, respectively. Regarding PCBs, 52% of the analyzed samples exhibited concentrations within the normal range, while the remaining samples exceeded the upper limit of normal values but remained below the alert threshold. The highest PCB concentration (0.147 mg/kg) was detected in soil collected from the Vidra landfill area. Regarding PAHs, 27.3% of the samples showed concentrations within normal limits, whereas the rest exceeded normal values but remained below the alert threshold of 7.5 mg/kg. The highest PAH level (4.636 mg/kg) was recorded in soil samples collected from the vicinity of the steel plant in Târgoviște. Overall, the study demonstrates that combustion processes represent notable sources of soil contamination by persistent organic pollutants.

Agricultural lands represent 79% of the surface of Dolj county and about 84% are used as arable crops. Depending on the culture system chosen, the physical and chemical quality of the soil can be affected in different ways. The chemical quality of some soils from Dolj county (Chernozems, Luvisols) was evaluated using several indicators (soil reaction, organic matter content, total nitrogen, mobile phosphorus and mobile potassium). On the depth of 0-50 cm, in both soils, 75% of the mobile phosphorus values were very low-low, respectively extremely low-low. Most of the studied Luvisols were characterized by low values of the mobile potassium content (50% in the topsoil and 63% on the 0-50cm depth, respectively). High correlation between PAL and KAL content was found in case of Luvisols (R2=0.908) and low in case of Chernozems (R2=0.300). High correlation in case of Luvisols may be due to the applied fertilizers. The values of the content of organic matter, total nitrogen, mobile phosphorus and mobile potassium were lower in the case of Luvisols compared to Chernozems and in most cases the values of the studied chemical indicators decrease with an increasing depth. According to the analyzed data, these soils have high potential for mineral ang organic fertiliser application.

There are many studies that reported high levels of metals (Cd, Pb, Zn) content in soils and vegetation from area affected by historical contamination in Copșa Mică area. In the period 2019-2021, a study was carried out in order to assess the accumulation of heavy metals in bell pepper cultivated in private gardens from a contaminated area. During this study 62 individual households were visited and 124 samples (62 soil samples and 62 bell peppers samples) were collected from these gardens, located in the Copșa Mică contaminated area. The results reveal that the accumulation of metals in edible parts of belly pepper had the following hierarchical pattern: Zn ˃ Cu ˃ Cd ˃ Pb. Zinc (Zn) was the metal with the highest content identified in the edible part of pepper samples, ranging between 1.4 mg / kg f.w. and 7.0 mg / kg f.w.., while for cadmium (Cd) the content values ranged between 0.005 mg / kg - 0.162 mg / kg. The metals contents in bell peppers were positively correlated to total contents of metals in soil. The highest values of correlation coefficients were obtained for the regression curves established for the estimation of Cu, Cd and Zn accumulation in bell pepper (r = 0.443 for Cu, r = 0.399 for Cd, and r = 0.376 for Zn). In the case of lead the linear correlation coefficient is relatively low (r = 0.299). The results of this study are important to estimate the metals accumulation in vegetables from individual gardens, while also improving the safety of foodstuff produced in contaminated areas.