The purpose of the study is to assess the ecological state of soils and the content of toxic elements, the relationship of their concentrations with military operations.

A Student of the Department of Landscape Gardening and Ecology Yulia Formaziuk and scientific director of the project Inna Tymchenko continue their research into the ecological state of soils in Zaporizhia and Mykolaiv regions. During the study, soil samples were taken, their preliminary analysis was performed on site using portable devices and laboratory analysis in cooperation with the Laboratory of Quality and Safety of Agro-Industrial Complex Products at the National University of Bioresources and Environmental Management of Ukraine. The study included the determination of the content of heavy metals, petroleum products, sulfur, phosphorus and other potentially hazardous substances.

According to the results of laboratory tests, the maximum permissible concentrations of lead (106.11 mg/kg with a standard value of 32 mg/kg), sulfur (1500 mg/kg with a standard value of 160 mg/kg), phosphorus (1744.14 mg/kg with a permissible value of 200 mg/kg), boron (40.38 mg/kg with a standard value of 20 mg/kg), cadmium (2.03 mg/kg with a standard value of 1.5 mg/kg) were exceeded.

The largest excess was recorded for the content of petroleum products, the concentration of which was 8000 mg/kg. The results obtained indicate local contamination of the soil cover and exceeding the standard indicators of individual pollutants, which require the development of measures to restore contaminated areas and further environmental monitoring.

Department of Landscape Gardening and Ecology