Soil and plant contamination with heavy metals in the area of the old railway junction Tarnowskie Góry and near two main railway routes.

Heavy metals (Pb, Cd, Cr, Hg, Mo, Zn, Co, Cu) content was determined in soil and plant samples collected in the different areas of the railway junction Tarnowskie Góry, as well as, near two main railway routes, i.e. Warsaw-Gdansk and Katowice-Gdynia. In Tarnowskie Góry soil and plant samples were collected in four functional parts of the junction, i.e. the rolling stock cleaning bay, platform area, railway siding and loading ramp. It was found that the contamination of soil and plants by heavy metal was the highest in loading ramp. A particularly high pollution level of copper was observed. The contamination level near the railway routes decreased accordingly to the distance from routes which suggests pollutant role of railway transport.