Technogenic geochemical abnormalities in the soils and bottom sediments of Voronezh

Abstract

Environmental pollution in large industrialized cities has become an urgent global problem. On the territory of the Russian Federation, a tense ecological situation is developing in almost all cities with a population of over one million and in large administrative centers. The creation of a quality urban environment is a national priority, a complex and financially costly task, the solution of which cannot be postponed any longer. The main sources of problems in the territories occupied by cities lie in the concentration of production capacities, the steady growth of the population, and as a result, the amount of transport. Due to production, industrial cities concentrate substances of natural and man-made origin forming local and even regional geochemical anomalies in various landscapes. Among all the interrelated components, a special place belongs to the depositing (accumulating) media–soils and bottom sediments. Based on the results of geochemical studies of 2018–2020, the indicators of the quality of the soils of Voronezh were determined, the levels of the content of pollutants of I-III hazard classes in the soils of urban and peripheral areas of Voronezh (benzo(a)pyrene and heavy metals) were established. The authors provide an assessment of the accumulation of pollutants in the bottom sediments of the Voronezh water reservoir, which is located on the territory of the urban district.