Ecological and geochemical assessment of soils in residential areas of Eastern Transbaikalia

Relevance. Environmental pollution by mining wastes is one of the most urgent environmental problems. Aim. To determine the degree of soil pollution in the residential areas of Eastern Transbaikalia. Objects. Total soil pollution according to the Saet formula (Zc) was studied in 30 settlements of Eastern Transbaikalia, including 14 settlements related to mining. Methods. In order to determine the degree of soil contamination, the settlements were grouped: settlements at gold ore, molybdenum lead-zinc and rare-metal deposits, as well as settlements not related to mining. The factual material was obtained during the research under the basic projects of the Institute of Natural Resources, Ecology and Cryology of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences from 2000 to 2022. In addition, published data and materials of the territorial geological funds (Chita) were used. The X-ray fluorescence method was used to determine the concentrations of chemical elements in analytical laboratories of the Geological Institute of SB RAS (Ulan-Ude), ISP-MS of ZAO "SGS Vostok Limited" (Chita). Results. Among the considered groups of settlements the following indicators of total soil contamination degree (Zc) were established: mining settlements of lead-zinc deposits – 68.87; gold deposits – 30.67; molybdenum deposits – 32.25; rare-metal deposits – 0.03; settlements not related to mining activity – 0.32. According to the total degree of soil contamination Zс, the settlements of lead-zinc deposits correspond to extremely hazardous, molybdenum deposits – hazardous; gold deposits – moderately hazardous; the settlements of rare-metal deposits and the ones not related to mining activities – low levels of pollution.