APPROACHES TO RISK ASSESSMENT ASSOCIATED WITH SOIL CONTAMINATION IN URBAN AREAS (BASED ON FOREIGN EXPERIENCE)

Abstract

Environmental risk assessment associated with soil contamination is one of the most important elements of effective management of contaminated sites, since it allows to identify the most important intake routs of contaminates to the human organism and to determine the risk of soil contamination in terms of impact on human health. The territories of industrial enterprises that are а subject to development and transformation into urban landscapes deserve special attention in cities.
 Methodological approaches to hazard assessment due to soil contamination based on the concept of risk to public
 health are analyzed. Models CalTOX, USETox, MMSoils, 3MRA, SADA and others that are developed and used in foreign countries, are characterized.
 It is shown that the SADA model has the maximum advantage for the practical application in Belarus due to its availability and built-in GIS technologies, which make it possible to obtain a visual indicative picture of the risks distribution.
 The SADA model has been tested for a post-industrial site located in Minsk, subject to use as a residential area. The
 results of a selective investigation of the industrial site and the determination of the heavy metals content in the soil as
 initial data were used. On the example of zinc and cadmium, it has been demonstrated that their measured concentrations do not pose a significant risk to the health of adults and children by inhalation, oral and contact intake routes. It has been established that it is possible to change the functional use of the territory, including the residential use, without soil cleanup activities. The levels of cadmium content in soils, which pose risk of non-carcinogenic effects for humans living in the territory are demonstrated.