Heavy Metals in Soils Under the Heel of Heavy Industry

Abstract

The soils of urban agglomerations dominated by heavy industry exhibit specific geochemical behaviour. New data are presented on total and mobile forms of heavy metals in soils contaminated by steelworks and chemical plants in different parts of Ukraine. The distribution of heavy metals in technogenic soils and the soil geochemical factors influencing the mobility of heavy metals and the mobile forms of metals in soil solution are assessed, and biogeochemical indices of polluted areas are determined. Heavy metal concentrations in soils of polluted areas are tens or hundreds of times higher than background values and maximum allowable concentrations, the soils’ buffer capacity is much diminished, and the mobility of heavy metals is increased. Microscopic fungi may be a supplementary criterion for ecological and geochemical studies.