CV
Research Area
Research Description
Selected Publications
Major Projects
Travel, work abroad

Limnology, heavy metals, dissolved organic matter, humic substances, photochemical degradation, microbial degradation

Fields of scientific activity:

1977-1989. Heavy metal accumulation of animals in Lake Balaton and its catcment area. 

1990-1992. Bacterioplankton production in Lake Balaton and in River Danube.

1993 – present. Ecological role of aquatic humic substances in Lake Balaton.

Heavy metal (Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd, Hg, Pb) concentrations were measured in animals (molluscs, larvae of chironomids, zooplankton, fish species) of Lake Balaton with atomic absorption spectrophotometric method. Role of influencing factors (antropogenic pollution, food contamination, season, species characteristics, organ characteristics, size, body weight, glochidia bearing, etc.) on bioaccumulation process were investigated. Uptake and depuration of heavy metals in different organs of molluscs was studied in laboratory experiments. Pollution control of tributaries of Lake Balaton was carried out by transplanted mussels as biomonitor organisms in field experiments. The heavy metal concentration was also measured in sediment cores in Lake Balaton.

Bacterioplankton production was investigated in River Danube, in River Zala, in Kis-Balaton Resevoir and in Lake Balaton using the [methyl-³H]thymidine incorporation method to establish the role of bacteria in microbial loop.

Investigation of aquatic humic substances in Lake Balaton was started from floodig of the lower Kis-Balaton reservoir, situated at the mouth of the Zala River the main tributary of the lake. Humic substances have formed and released from the flooded soil in a high amount and have seriously increased along the direction of flow, reaching to the western basin of Lake Balaton. Dissolved organic matter was fractionated, humic substances (fulvic acids, humic acids) were isolated by XAD method. The characterization of humic substances (colour, fluorescence, organic carbon concentration, stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios, molecular size fractions)was made by different analytical methods. Spectrophotometer, fluorescence spectrophotometer, TOC analyzer, isotope ratio mass spectrometer, ultrafiltration apparatus were used. The contribution of humic substances to the total dissolved organic carbon pool was estimated. The effect of humic substances on the underwater light climate was studied. Photochemical (UV-B, UV-A and near-UV visible) degradation process of DOM has been investigated. The influence of meteorological and hydrologic changes on the humic substances load of Lake Balaton and their ecological role has been studied.

V.-BALOGH, K. & J. SALÁNKI (1984) The dynamics of mercury and cadmium uptake into different organs of Anodonta cygnea L. Water Res. 18: 1381-1387.

V.-BALOGH, K. (1988) Comparison of mussels and crustacean plankton to monitor heavy metal pollution. Water, Air, and Soil Pollution 37: 281-292.

V.-BALOGH, K. (1988) Heavy metal pollution from a point source demonstrated by mussel (Unio pictorum L.) at Lake Balaton, Hungary. Bull. Environm. Contam. Toxicol. 41: 910-914.

PRÉSING, M., K. V.-BALOGH & J. SALÁNKI (1993) Cadmium uptake and depuration in different organs of Lymnaea stagnalis L. and the effect of cadmium on the natural zinc level. Arch. Environ. Contam. Toxicol .24: 28-34

V.-BALOGH, K. & Z. MASTALA (1994) The influence of size and glochidia bearing upon the heavy metal accumulation in gills of Anodonta piscinalis (Nilss.). Chemosphere 28: 1539-1550.

V.-BALOGH, K., A. BOTHÁR, K.T KISS. & L. VÖRÖS (1994) Bacterio-, phyto- and zooplankton of the River Danube (Hungary). Verh. Internat. Verein. Limnol. 25: 1692-1694.

KATALIN V.-BALOGH (1995) Zooplankton for monitoring heavy metal pollution. In: Pollution and Biomonitoring (Ed. by B.C. RANA), Tata McGeaw-Hill Publishing Company Limited New Delhi 302-324.

VÍGH, P., Z. MASTALA & K. V.-BALOGH (1996) Comparison of heavy metal concentration of grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella Cuv. et Val.) in a shallow eutrophic lake and a fish pond (possible effects of food contamination). Chemosphere 32: 691-701. 

V.-BALOGH, K. & VÖRÖS, L. (1997) High bacterial production in hypertophic shallow reservoirs rich in humic substances. Hydrobiologia 342/343: 63-70.

V.-BALOGH, K., M. PRÉSING, L. HIRIPI & L. VÖRÖS (1988) Stable carbon and nitrogen ratios of dissolved humic substances in a shallow reservoir covered by macrophytes. Internat. Rev. Hydrobiol. 83: (Spec. Issue) 203-206.

V.-BALOGH, K., M. BOKROS, N. TÓTH & L. VÖRÖS (2000) Characterization of dissolved humic substances in a large shallow lake (Lake Balaton, Hungary). In: Entering the Third Millenium with a common approach to Humic Substances and Organic Matter in Water, Soil and Sediments. 10th International Meeting of the International Humic Substances Society (IHSS 10) 24-28 July 2000 Toulouse (France) Proceedings 2: 831-834.

VÖRÖS, L. A. KOVÁCS, É. BORGULYA & K. V.-BALOGH (2000) Effect of ultraviolet radiation on unicellular algae in presence of humic substances. In: Entering the Third Millenium with a common approach to Humic Substances and Organic Matter in Water, Soil and Sediments. 10th International Meeting of the International Humic Substances Society (IHSS 10) 24-28 July 2000 Toulouse (France) Proceedings 2: 883-887.

V.-BALOGH, K., E. KONCZ & L. VÖRÖS (2000) An empirical model describing the contribution of colour, algae and particles to the light climate of shallow lakes. Verh. Internat. Verein. Limnol. 27. 2678-2681.

V.-BALOGH K. & L. VÖRÖS (2001) Wetlands on the watershed of Lake Balaton and their impact on water quality. BIWAKO 2001. 9th International Conference on the Conservation and Management of Lakes. Conference Proceedings. Session 5. 5B-P06, 197-200.

V.-BALOGH, K., L. VÖRÖS, N. TÓTH & M. BOKROS (2003) Changes of organic matter quality along the longitudinal axis of a large shallow lake (Lake Balaton). Hydrobiologia. 506-509, 67-74.

Participation in 17 international conferences