The paper studies the effects of soil salinization caused by the waste from soda production deposited in soils in and around the CIECH Soda Polska S.A. plant on the soil sulphur and sulphate content and arylsulphatase activity. Soil samples were collected in April and October 2014 at two depths from 8 representative sites and from the control. The pHKCl values ranged from 7.35 to 7.98 and showed alkaline reaction of all the soils researched at both depths and on both sampling dates. Soil samples differed in electrical conductivity (EC1:5), which varied from 0.133 to 11.26 mS∙cm-1. The factory’s impact has led to lasting changes in the activity of arylsulphatase and in the sulphur content. At the sites where soil was determined to represent average and high salinity, on both soil sampling dates, the activity of this hydrolase tended to be the lowest. Except for the soil sampled from the control site, all the other soil samples showed a considerable content of sulphates (>50 mg kg-1), which points to strong anthropogenic pollution. The soil remediation works conducted in and around the CIECH factory were not found to affect the content of total and sulphate sulphur or the activity of hydrolase. Values of the soil resistance (RS) and resilience (RL) indices were calculated. The low value of soil resistance to AR activity at site 8 (RS=0.050 in 0-20 cm and 0.039 in 20-40 cm) together with the high EC1:5 value, a very high content of sulphates (>50) and a growing population of Salicornia europaea L., demonstrates the soil environment’s capacity of adapting to anthropogenic salinization. The results show that the activity of arylsulphatase expressed with the indices of soil resistance accurately represents the response of soil properties to soil salinization.

23.2.2018