Brownfields are one of the unfavorable parts of industrial heritage that developed from 18th to 20th century. Brownfields are very different and in most cases they have negative impact on the environment. Crucial for this thesis were brownfields with certain level of contaminations. The site of a former refinery of mineral oils OSTRAMO, which represents ecological burden, is a brownfield that can threaten the environment in all its compartments. This was the reason why OSTRAMO was selected for this thesis. The goal of this thesis was to evaluation of ecotoxicological effects of contaminated samples taken from the location via ecotoxicity testing in aquatic and contact arrangement. The result of each test confirmed expected negative impact of the samples from the location of former rafinery on testing organisms.

The aim of this diploma thesis is to assess the ecotoxicological effect of biochar produced from sewage sludge. In case of application of biochar to agricultural land, both the soil and aquatic ecosystem may be affected therefore contact and aquatic tests were chosen to assess the ecotoxicological effects. Representatives of soil invertebrates were earthworms Eisenia fetida; Daphnia magna and Artemia salina were chosen from aquatic animals and terrestrial plants were represented by Lactuca sativa, Sinapis alba and Allium cepa. The results of contact tests point out how ecosystem could be negatively affected by biochar dose. Through aqueous extract were shown differences in sensitivity of individual organisms in aquatic tests. Dried sewage sludge was found to be the biggest burden for all tested organisms. The pelletized biochar with the addition of an additive showed the lowest negative effect on tested organisms.

Evaluation of the sewage sludges from different sewage water treatments will be performed by means of available ecotoxicity tests. The evaluation will be done in accordance with the valid legislation. On the basis of the obtained values the sludges will be classified into the respective grades of leachability and the dangerous property of the sewage sludges ecotoxicity will be evaluated.

This diploma thesis deals with the evaluation of algal test methods and passes judgement on their availibility for ecotoxicological analysis of chosen chemical substances. By counting of algal cells and spectrophotometry was determined influence of potassium bichromate on growth of freshwater algae Desmodesmus subspicatus.

Thousand of new substances with unknown environmental effect are produced and used daily. Many of them are deliberately or by negligence released and deposited into the environment where they could undergo different transport and degradation mechanisms. They are able to affect different types of organisms, as well as humans. For this reason, the awareness of the problems, associated with pollution of all environmental compartments is growing. The environmental impact of monomer formaldehyde resins, which are produced for commercial use, on the environment were studied in this research. For the purposes of ecotoxicological evaluation samples of melamine-formaldehyde and urea-formaldehyde resin were chosen and three toxicity tests were run: acute test with measurement of inhibition of the mobility of Daphnia magna, the acute test with luminescent bacteria Vibrio fischeri and acute test with measurement of inhibition of oxygen consumption by activated sludge. For more comprehensive assessment of the impact of these substances on the environment, biodegradability was also determined. Both tested substances showed minor hazardous impact to testing organisms and it can be concluded, that these substances should not present a significant risk to the environment.

In recent years consumption of drugs and thus the quantity of their residues in natural ecosystems is increasing. It is necessary to deal with their possible negative effects on the environment. This thesis is focused on the ecotoxicological evaluation of pharmaceuticals. Diclofenac and ibuprofen from the group of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory substances, penicillin G and ampicillin from the group of antibiotics were tested. Mainly tests on aquatic organisms were used to evaluate of ecotoxicity, because the tested pharmaceuticals are predominantly occurred in the aquatic environment. Daphnia magna, Thamnocephalus platyurus, Artemia salina, Sinapis alba, Lemna minor, and Brachionus calyciflorus were used as testing organisms. Values of LC50, EC50 and IC50 were determinated and the ecotoxicity of pharmaceuticals was compared.

This diploma thesis deals with a use of algal test in ecotoxicology. A freshwater algae, Desmodesmus subspicatus, was used to asses the ecotoxicity of selected chemical substances. A spectrophotometry method, of VIS spectrum, was used in evaluation of the EC50. A correlation, between a number of algal cells and the wavelength absorbance at 683 nm, has been determined for this purpose. Following chemicals were tested, 2-[2-[(2,6-dichlorophenyl)amino]phenyl]acetic acid, (RS)-2-[4-(2-methylpropyl)phenyl]propanoic acid and N-(4-hydro-xyphenyl)acetamide. An EC50 value was determined for all these substances and also their ecotoxicity has been evaluated.

This thesis deals with ecotoxicity tests of selected substances used in agriculture and horticulture. It is focused on the determination of acute and chronic toxicity of selected herbicides. These herbicides are sold commercially, specifically Finalsan (active substance is nonanoic acid), the product of Neudorff GmbH KG company, and Dominator (active substance is glyphosate, isopropylamine salt) by Dow AgroSciences Ltd. Next tested substances are potassium nitrate and sodium nitrate - common agricultural fertilizers. Potassium dichromate was also tested. Potassium dichromate is very toxic for aquatic environment and it is used as the standard in acute tests. Tests were carried out in terms of effects on aquatic systems, due to very good solubility in water of selected substances. The tests were performed on the organism Daphnia magna.

Products of daily use, which are mainly cosmetics and personal care products could significantly affect the environment. Recently, in terms of environmental protection, organic compounds responsible for the pleasant smell of these products - synthetic fragrances or musk compounds - are often mentioned. This diploma thesis aims to assess the ecotoxicity of several new substances from the group linear (alicyclic) musk compounds. From this group following fragrance ingrediens were tested: lilial, linalool, arocete and aroflorone. Since the majority of their residues enter the aquatic ecosystem, aquatic freshwater crustacean Daphnia magna and Thamnocephalus platyurus and aquatic plant Lemna minor were selected as test organisms. Individual ecotoxicity of above mentioned substances was evaluated as well as toxicity of binary mixture of arofloron and linalool on organisms Daphnia magna and Thamnocephalus platyurus. Based on the test results the ecotoxicological values LC50, EC50 and IC50 for the tested substances were evaluated and their ecotoxicity was compared. Lilial showed the highest ecotoxicity. Value of 24h EC50 for organism Daphnia magna was 2.13 mg/l and value of 24h LC50 for the organism Thamnocephalus platyurus was 10.86 mg/l.

Constantly increasing consumption of drugs leads to the increase of the concentration of residues in various environmental compartments. For this reason the drug residues are nowadays classified as significant environmental contaminants. The drug residues enter the soil along with the application of sewage sludge either as a fertilizer or during fertilizing by animal excrements excreted after drug administration, eventually by direct contamination from treated grazing animals. The presence of these substances in soil has got negative impact on the sensitive soil ecosystem. The diploma thesis aims to evaluation of possible soil contamination with selected drugs through ecotoxicity tests. For this purpose sulfonamide chemotherapeutic agents, which are often used in veterinary medicine, were chosen, specifically sulfamethoxazole and sulfamethazin. Eartworms (Lumbricus) were selected as suitable test representative soil organism. In the experimantal part of this work the avoidance test according to ISO 17512-1 and modified bioaccumulation test according to OECD 317 methodology were performed. Bioaccumulation substances in oligochaetes, for which the artificial soil was prepared according to OECD 207 methodology, which was subsequently contaminated with above specified drugs. Although according to the results of determination of these substances there is no significant bioaccumulation in eartworms‘ tissue, these organisms are very responsive to the presence of contaminants in the soil environment. This is evident from the results of avoidance tests.