Long Term Effects of Cyanide Pollution of the River Tisza

Abstract

The largest environmental pollution in the past few years was the cyanide pollution coming from mines of non-ferrous metals in Romania polluting the rivers Tisza and Szamos in the beginning of 2000. In addition to the direct damage at the time of pollution, there arises the question whether cyanide adsorbs in the settling of the river or in the surrounding soil. If it adsorbs, then it can reappear in the river water or in the soil solution, then from there getting to the source of drinking water it can have long-lasting effects. Therefore our aim was to determine whether the cyanide ion can adsorb in the settling of river Tisza, or in the soil near the shore as free cyanide ion or in the presence of Zn- and Cu ion coming together with cyanide pollution.