The surrounding of the poorly maintained tailing ponds is endangered by the toxic substances and represents a serious risk for the health of the local population. The aim of the study was to determine the soil pollution by the hazardous elements (As, Cr, Cd, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, Zn) around the tailing pond using contamination factor (C_f), degree of contamination (C_d) and pollution load index (PLI). The health and the condition of soil were evaluated by soil enzyme activity (urease, acid and alkaline phosphatase, florescein diacetate, and ß-glucosidase). The spreading of the airborne hazardous elements from the body of the tailing pond was evaluated by moss and lichen bag technique and relative accumulation factor was used for the result expression. Cd, Fe, and Mn in soils reached above the limit values at all sampling sites. According to the degree of contamination (C_d), the soils at the sampling area were very high contaminated by As, Cd, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, and Pb. The most part of the assessed area was according to the PLI values extremely polluted. The air pollution was the most serious around the tailing pond, but serious levels of some hazardous elements were determined also in the remote distances.

Thirty soil samples were taken, and the same number of moss (Dicranum scoparium) and lichen (Pseudevernia furfuracea) bags were exposed to detect environmental pollution in the former mining area Nižná Slaná. Soil and ambient air are influenced by hazardous substances, which leak from old mining bodies due to insufficient or completely missing reclamation. The total content of the risk elements (As, Cd, Co, Cu, Fe, Hg, Mn, Ni, Sb, Se, Pb, Zn) was determined in soil, moss, and lichen samples and in the bodies of Leccinum pseudoscabrum. Biological (soil enzymes—urease, acid phosphatase, alkaline phosphatase, fluorescein diacetate (FDA), ß-glucosidase) and chemical properties (pH) were determined in soil samples. Contamination factor (C_f), degree of contamination (C_d), pollution load index (PLI), and enrichment factor (EF) were used for soil and relative accumulation factor (RAF) for air quality evaluation. Contamination factor values show serious pollution by Cd, Fe, Hg, and Mn. Pollution load index confirmed extremely high pollution almost at all evaluated areas. Soil enzymes reacted to soil pollution mostly by decreasing their activity. Mosses and lichens show differences in the accumulation abilities of individual elements. Regular consumption of L. pseudoscabrum would provide the dose of Cd and Hg below the limit of provisional weekly intake. Based on the bioaccumulation index (BAF) values, L. pseudoscabrum can be characterized as an Hg accumulator.

The paper focuses on the evaluation of some aspects of the spatial organization of economic development of regions in the V4 countries after their accession to the EU. It focuses on the confirmation or confutation of the application of two principles of spatial organization based on the context of polarization theories, namely the polarity between western and eastern regions (i.e. the West–East gradient) and the polarity between the capital and other regions of the country (i.e. the national metropolitan gradient) at national and supranational levels. In the evaluation of the spatial polarity, the remoteness of various regions of the V4 countries from the economic core area (the Blue Banana, respectively the capital of the country) acts as the independent variable, whereby two economic indicators, i.e. the average monthly wage and the unemployment rate were chosen as the dependent variables. The analysis showed that on the supranational scale of the research in the monitored period, the increase of spatial polarisation was recorded. The increasing role of the West–East gradient and declining role of the national metropolitan gradient in the dynamics of spatial polarity has also been confirmed. The analysis has not confirmed the scale shift of polarity according to the West–East gradient to the national level, but at the same time it has pointed out the significant influence of the national metropolitan gradient in Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Hungary at this assessment level.