Copper and zinc concentrations in plant and animal raw materials collected in the vicinity of the Zelazny most waste treatment tailings pond

The study was carried out on the Cu and Zn content of plant material (wheat grain, hay and potato tubers) and animal food products (cow’s milk, hen’s eggs and chicken meat) collected in the vicinity of the Żelazny Most waste treatment tailings pond (Lower Silesia, Poland). The samples for the study accomplished in 2016-2018 were collected from the places located in the nearest vicinity of the tailings pond (6 farms within a distance shorter than 4 km – zone I) and those located further away (6 farms within a distance from 4 to 10 km from the tailings pond – zone II). Copper and Zn concentrations were measured on a Varian Spectra AA220 Fast Sequential atomic absorption spectrophotmeter. The mean values of Cu noted in wheat grain harvested in the years under investigation ranged from 3.87 to 5.27 mg kg-1 DM, while the maximum value was 6.97 mg kg-1 DM. The highest accumulation of Cu and Zn was in hay (max. 10.10 and 99.04 mg kg-1 DM, respectively), while the lowest values were noted in milk and eggs. The zinc content of cow’s milk was found within the range from 2.64 to 4.01 mg kg-1 FM and the highest amount was 6.32 mg kg-1 FM. It was also found the mean Cu concentrations in poultry meat varied from 0.53 to 1.55 mg kg-1 FM and the maximum value was 3.50 mg kg-1 FM. No significant differences between zones I and II were observed (p≤0.05). The current results are comparable with those obtained in 2007 and 2013. With only a few exceptions, the biomonitoring studies did not show that the levels of the two metals in the biological material tested exceeded data reported in the Polish and international literature. Nowadays, there is no reason to consider the Żelazny Most tailings pond to be an toxicological threat to the natural and agricultural environment regarding Cu and Zn, but its periodic biomonitoring is necessary due to the chemical properties of these two elements and their potential effect on some environmental factors