PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL MONITORING IN CENTRAL RUSSIA: INVESTIGATION OF QUALITY OF ATMOSPHERIC AIR AND SOIL IN TERRITORY OF RODNIKI CITY

Abstract

Air and soil quality assessment at the Rodniki town, Ivanovo Region, was performed using physical chemical analysis and biomonitoring techniques: soil and snow analysis, moss biomonitoring, fluctuating asymmetry (IFA) for the silver birch (Betula pendula Roth.). Elemental content in moss, soil and snow samples was determined by neutron activation analysis (NAA) and atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS). A total of 40 elements (Na, Mg, Al, Cl, K, Ca, Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Zn, As, Se, Br, Rb, Sr, Zr, Mo, Ag, In, Sb, I, Cs, Ba, La, Ce, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Tm, Yb, Lu, Hf, Ta, W) was determined by NAA. To determine concentrations of Pb, Cd, and Cu AAS technique was used. To reveal potential sources of element-pollutants the descriptive statistics and factor analysis were applied in OriginPro 8 and SPSS 17.0 software packages for Windows. To evaluate the contribution to the metal content in moss from anthropogenic sources, enrichment factors (EF) were calculated. Distribution maps were prepared to point out areas most affected by pollution and to characterize the main deposition patterns of pollutants. To create GIS maps QGIS software was used. The complex assessment of the air and soil quality of the Rodniki town and its vicinity showed an acceptable level of the contamination. It was established that the main source of pollution is the machine-building plant situated in the north of the town. This plant causes soil contamination by Zn, As, Fe, and Co. The IFA values successfully confirm the obtained concentration data. Besides, it was established that the soil contamination has a bigger influence on IFA than atmospheric pollution. Measures for nature conservation are suggested.