Monitoring of the Lead Content in Agroecosystems of the Central Black Earth Region of Russia

摘要

Studies on the environmental assessment of the Pb content in agroecosystems were carried out in the forest-steppe zone of Belgorod oblast, which is located in the southwestern part of the Central Black Earth region. The soil cover was represented mainly by leached chernozems. As a result of these studies, it was established that in the 0- to 20-cm layer of arable soils, the average total content of Pb is 13.1, while the concentration of mobile forms is 1.09 mg/kg, which does not exceed the background values and is significantly below the APC and MAC levels. There were no significant differences in the content of Pb in the 0- to 20-and 21 - to 40-cm soil layers. The excess of background concentrations of this element was established in the soils of roadside ecosystems. The main source of Pb ingress into the agroecosystems of Belgorod oblast is organic fertilizers, but this does not pose a hazard to pollution of soils and crop production. The average Pb contents in corn, barley, and winter wheat grains did not differ significantly and were 0.27, 0.28, and 0.29 mg/kg, respectively. The minimum amount of this element in the crops studied was contained in soybean grains (0.16 mg/kg), while the maximum amount was in sunflower seeds (0.34 mg/kg). The minimum amount of Pb in the perennial legume grasses was contained in clover hay (0.19 mg/kg), while the maximum amount was in esparcet hay (0.34 mg/kg). The MAC levels of Pb for food grains and the maximum residue levels of Pb in crop production were not exceeded.