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FEATURES OF HEAVY METALS ACCUMULATION IN THE SNOW COVER OF THE RUSSIAN NORTH URBANIZED TERRITORIES ON THE EXAMPLE OF ARKHANGELSK

Natal’ya Chagina

Abstract

The main air pollutants in the urban areas are power stations and transport. As a result of fuel combustion, heavy metals and solid particles with unknown composition enter the atmosphere. Concentrations of heavy metals in the snow can be an indicator of air pollution in urban areas, also giving us indications on the origin of pollution. Heavy metals accumulated in the snow in significant quantities in the cold period. But in the spring, runoff after the melting of snow presents a significant source of pollution in the environment. The quality assessment of the atmosphere based on the results of the analysis of snow is a marked effect of regional pollution sources, so the aim of this study is to obtain information on the qualitative composition and quantitative content of heavy metals in snow of Arkhangelsk, one of the major cities of the Russian North. The snow sampling was carried out from 2011 to 2017 near the main transport highways and large stationary sources of atmospheric pollution. The following indicators were determined in the 257 samples: pH was determined by the ionometry with I-160M, the specific electrical conductivity (UEP) by the conductometry with "Anion-7020", heavy metal content - by atomic emission spectroscopy with inductively coupled plasma (ICP-AES) using ICPE-9000 (Shimadzu) spectrometer (10-1000 ?g/l) and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) using Aurora Elite (Bruker) mass spectrometer (0.01-1000 ?g/l), quantitative analysis of the solid particles composition with the ICP-AES method. The data were processed by the standard methods of mathematical statistics using the "Statistika Base" program. For all the analyses, differences were considered significant at the level of p < 0.05. The values of the snow acidity varied from 5.74 pH up to 7.48 pH, the UEP - from 18.6 ?S/cm to 5780 ?S/cm. All samples contain water-soluble forms in concentrations (ppb): Fe (13,19 - 513,52); Al (13.97 - 139.81); Zn (4.64 - 62,73); Cu (2.61 - 13.26); Mn (5.94 - 69.27); Ni (0.92 - 2.81); Co (0.07-0.54); Cd (0.01 - 0.25); Pb (0.09 to 0.62). In the samples located near transport highways, chromium and vanadium were found in amounts of Cr (0.02 - 3.03) ppb and V (1.22 - 6.86) ppb. The received data do not exceed the norms accepted in Russia and correspond to a low level of pollution. The total content of heavy metals in the solid particles composition (mg / kg) was: Fe (5049 - 22397); Cu (85.8 - 309.8); Mn (126.9 - 299.9); Ni (57.7 - 187.6); Co (3.08 - 18.1); Cd (0.32-0.61); Cr (47.39 - 167.6); Pb (42.12 - 52.20). According to Russian standards, defined excess of the maximum allowable concentration of such metals as Cu (1.5-5.6 MAC), Ni (0.7- 2.2 MAC), Pb (1.3-1.6 MAC). The highest values of Fe and Mn were observed in the snow samples near the power plants; Ni, Cd, Co, Cr, Pb - in snow samples near the main roads.

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