Conclusions

Poland was one of the biggest DDT producer in the eastern and central Europe. Great amounts of DDT used in the 1960s and 1970s left impact of the Poland environment. Inefficient pesticide management resulted in large amount of unused stocks which were placed in old bunkers, “tombs” or in ground holes. Over time they started to leak, and after 1989 transformations, the ownership of the sites was not clear. Soon after that Poland managed to prepare new environmental laws, and regained control over “orphan” landfills. The drive to join the European Union forced not only changes in economics but also changes in the environmental laws. In 2004, Poland ratified the Stockholm Convention and is now in the process of its implementation. Thanks to the European and global funding,  Poland is implementing short and long term strategies, which in the future will improve state of the Polish environment.

Sources of Information

• National Statistical Yearbooks, GUS, Warsaw. www.stat.gov.pl

• Poland. National Implementation Plan for the Stockholm Convention, 2004.  
  

• Publications available on the Polish Ministry of the Environment website  www.mos.gov.pl.

• Prof Marek Biziuk, Pesticides – occurrence, determination and neutralization, WNT Warsaw, 2001.