The content of heavy metals in the soils of cemeteries

Abstract

Introduction. The cemetery soils are practically not studied, although they occupy significant areas in settlements. The cemetery soil cover consists of heavily disturbed necrozems (14-22%) and soils of inter-grave spaces, to a lesser extent transformed by man. The aim of the work was to determine the content of heavy metals in the cemetery soils in Rostov-on-Don and Bataysk. Materials and methods. In 2020-2021 seventy six soil samples were taken from the territories of the cemeteries of Rostov-on-Don and Bataysk. Basically, the topsoil layer of 0-10 cm was studied, several samples taken from necrozems and soils of inter-grave plots from a depth of 10-20 cm were also studied. The detection of the gross composition in soil samples was carried out by the X-ray fluorescence method on the Spectroscan MAKS-GV device. Results. In some samples of the cemeteries in Rostov-on-Don, a significant excess of the content of chromium, copper and arsenic was revealed compared to the background content. In six samples, the total zinc content was exceeded by 10 to 16 times and ranged from 1068 to 3969 mg/kg. In three Bataysk cemeteries, no excess of heavy metals (with the exception of chromium and zinc) was found. Limitations. In the work, 76 samples from 8 cemeteries of the Rostov agglomeration were studied, which is a fairly reference sample for such objects. Conclusion. The gross composition of the cemetery soils in the Rostov agglomeration corresponds to the typical values characteristic of the chernozems of the Rostov region. The excess of the background content of chromium and zinc in the soils between graves is associated with the use of metals and paint products containing these elements.