Abstract

The industrial functional zone of cities acts as a source of background technogenic dust, which not only creates environmental risks for highly sensitive population groups, but also becomes a permanent geochemical donor for technogenic surface formations. The study on the territory of a multifunctional city made it possible to compare the degree of pollution of surface formations with twelve heavy metals and metalloids with environmental standards using several approaches to the total assessment, as well as to assess the quality of anthropogenic urban substrates based on the content of macroelements and microelements. The results of assessing the degree of pollution of man-made surface formations in the urban ecosystem showed significant differences in approaches, in which the basis for comparison is the Maximum Permissible Concentration (MPC) or regional geochemical background. Pollution by pollutants, which is assessed by fixed and rarely updated values of concentrations of heavy metals and metalloids (MPC), does not provide an opportunity to take into account the soil-genetic and biogeochemical situation in specific soils. If, relative to MPC, excess concentrations are established only for four heavy metals (Pb, Cr, Zn, Fe), then, relative to the regional geochemical background, the list of increased concentrations of heavy metals is supplemented by Cu, Co, Sr, V, Mn, Ni, Ba. A direct correspondence between the potential fertility of urban surface formations (by the content of macro elements and microelements) and the degree of their pollution with heavy metals was not found.

Keywords:Man-made surface formations; Heavy metals; Urban pollution; Threats to children’s health