MIGRATION OF MICROELEMENTS AND HEAVY METALS IN THE SYSTEM «SOIL - PLANT - PLANT-BASED PRODUCTS»

MIGRATION OF MICROELEMENTS AND HEAVY METALS

Abstract

In Russia, raw materials of plant origin are used in the production of national beverages and food products. Many plots for the cultivated crops are located near urbanized areas, oil refineries, and machine-building plants. The research focuses on determining the concentration of heavy metals in soil in urbanized and rural areas. The content and transition of heavy metals to rhubarb and its processed product - kvass produced by various technologies have been identified as well. The purpose of this study is to determine the content of certain trace elements and heavy metals in soil, rhubarb, and its processed product - kvass made in different ways. The level of copper and lead in soil in rural areas has been found to be considerably higher than in the city. The concentration of cadmium and zinc is higher in the urbanized area. In the soils of rural and urbanized areas, the concentration of all the metals studied is sure to be higher than in the background levels. This indicates that soil contamination is caused not only by natural presence of elements but anthropogenic pollution as well. In analysis of transition and character of trace element accumulation in a soil-plant system, there is a strong link between the level of Pb, Cd in the soil and a plant (r = 0.81 and 0.71; respectively). In analysis of transition and character of trace element accumulation in a soil-plant system, there is a strong link between the level of Pb, Cd in the soil and a plant (r = 0.81 and 0.71; respectively). In the course of the study we found a symbateness between the content of trace elements in the soil and rhubarb: a reliable very strong, close to functional, direct link between the level of Zn, Pb and Cu (r = 0.97; 0.90 and 0.67, respectively; at р <0.05). When studying the cross-environments transition of trace elements from soil to plants, a significant direct weak bond was established only for Cu (r = 0.31), Zn (r = 0.33) and Pb (r = 0.35). In the raw material-product system, there is a reliable symbateness between the level of metal in kvass and the concentration in vegetable crops in terms of Zn (r = 0.32), Cu (r = 0.46) and Cd (r = 0.38). No other reliably significant links have been established. Plant material produced according to organic production principles and the processing technology we’ve developed contribute to both the least impact on its constituent parts and the increased macro- and microelements content, the content of toxic elements remaining within the limits of the existing regulatory documents.