Ecological monitoring of conditionally clean areas in Volgograd agglomeration

Abstract

Introduction. The territories of conditionally clean zones are allocated for the development of collective gardens and summer cottages, being formed far from industrial centers in ecologically clean, picturesque places for healthy recreation of citizens. The purpose of the study is to assess the environmental condition of the territories of horticultural non-commercial partnerships (HNP) “Oroshenets”, “Shelf” (Volgograd) in a comparative analysis with the residential area of Srednyaya Akhtuba work settlement (Sredneakhtubinsky district of the Volgograd region), affected by industrial production using aerosol indicators.
 
 Materials and methods. The material of the study was aerosol suspensions prepared from particles, collected from the leaves of Prunus armeniaca L. in accordance with international methods (A. Lukowski, R. Popek et al., 2020) and studied in terms of acidity, electrical conductivity on electrochemical equipment of the “MULTEST” series (Russia); toxicants were identified based on the development of test objects (RF patent No. 2746764); analysis of the disperse composition of aerosols, their amount and mass fraction were carried out according to GOST R 56929–2016. Prediction of sources of natural pollution on the territory of HNP was carried out by the method of remote sensing of the Earth.
 
 Results. The Integral assessment of the ecological condition of the territory of the conditionally clean zone during 2018–2020 demonstrated 1 point (QSNT = 0.699–0.725). Mineralized aerosols (EC = 38.11–42.68 (μS/cm)) were steadily recorded in the atmospheric air, the amount of PM10 reached 70 %, while there were no acid impurities and toxicants.
 
 Conclusions. The ecological status of the HNP area was evaluated as an “ecological norm”, but “with slight changes in flora and fauna”, which indicated a slight pollution of the territory from possible natural sources in the form of active geological structures (projections of foci of surface temperature anomalies, confirmed by the data of the latest satellite systems (Landsat-8, USA) and field studies of “hot spots”).