The Contents of Selected Risk Elements and Organic Pollutants in Soil and Vegetation within a Former Military Area

Abstract

The contents of selected risk elements (As, Ba, Be, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Ni, Pb, Sb, Ti, V, Zn), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and n-alkanes were determined in soils collected at the former military training base Milovice-Mladá (Czech Republic), where military activities were terminated in 1991. Seventeen soil samples were collected from the former tank shooting range called “Benátecký vrch” (area 16.2 ha) covered with herbaceous vegetation cover. No sample exceeding the threshold limits for maximum permissible limits of risk elements in soil was identified. The contents of organic pollutants in soil also did not pose a potential environmental risk. The risk element contents (especially Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn) in aboveground biomass of Dactylis glomerata (Poaceae), Hypericum perforatum (Hypericaceae), Galium verum (Rubiaceae), and Plantago lanceolata (Plantaginaceae) sampled close to the soil sampling points indicated, however, potential environmental damage originating from the municipal landfill covering a substantial part of the area since 1995.