Pollution of Crimean Coastal Towns Soil with Heavy Metals and Petroleum Products

A. V. Baranenko1, E. I. Golubeva1, E. S. Kashirina2,*

1 Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia

2 A. O. Kovalevsky Institute of Biology of the Southern Seas of RAS, Sevastopol, Russia

* e-mail: e_katerina.05@mail.ru

Abstract

The paper is devoted to the peculiarities of soil pollution in small seaside towns with resort specialization using Crimea as a case study. The specifics of soil pollution in resort towns are related to the active use of motor vehicles, the operation of infrastructure enterprises and the development of agriculture in adjacent areas. Heavy metals and petroleum products occupy a leading place among pollutants. The purpose of the work is to assess the level of soil pollution in the coastal towns of the Southern Coast of Crimea with heavy metals and petroleum products using the example of Yalta, Alushta and Sudak. The research methodology included soil sampling in different functional zones of the towns and beyond their limits. Samples for determining background levels were collected at a distance from highways in forested areas. The content of heavy metals in the soil was determined by the X-ray fluorescence method, and petroleum products by the luminescent-bituminological method. In the soils of residential areas of the three studied towns, elevated concentrations of lead (Pb) and zinc (Zn) were recorded. The highest exceedances of background levels for heavy metals were recorded in Yalta (3.5–4 times). In addition, copper (Cu), strontium (Sr), manganese (Mn) and vanadium (V) actively accumulate in the soils of resort towns of the Southern Coast of Crimea. Pb, Zn, Cu, Sr, Mn and V accumulate in the soils of suburban areas of the Southern Coast of Crimea near highways. The content of petroleum products in soils is, as expected, higher along major suburban highways than within town limits. The main source of pollutants is motor vehicles. Their impact increases in the summer season with the influx of vacationers to the Southern Coast of Crimea, whose number reached 3.85 million people in 2021. Another source of pollution is heat and power facilities, including stoves in low-rise residential buildings. The total pollution index (Zc) indicates a low level of soil pollution in the studied towns; however, the concentrations of some pollutants exceed background levels. The results of the study can be used in the environmental monitoring system and in the formulation of regional environmental policy in resort towns.

Keywords

environmental problems of resort towns, soil pollution with heavy metals and metalloids, petroleum products, Black Sea coast

Acknowledgments

The study was conducted under the state assignment of Lomonosov Moscow State University “Geographical approach to optimizing environmental management in sustainable development models” and IBSS state research assignment (No. 124030100030-0).

About the authors

Anastasia V. Baranenko, Lomonosov Moscow State University (1, Leninskie Gory, 199011, Moscow, Russia), Master, IstinaResearcherID (IRID): 232201591, evpanetka@mail.ru

Elena I. Golubeva, Professor, Lomonosov Moscow State University (1, Leninskie Gory, 199011, Moscow, Russia), Dr.Sci (Biology), ORCID ID: 0000-0001-9595-5974, Scopus Author ID: 16546135000, ResearcherID: L-7520-2015, egolubeva@gmail.com

Ekaterina S. Kashirina, Senior Researcher, A. O. Kovalevsky Institute of Biology of the Southern Seas of RAS (2, Nakhimov Ave., 299011, Sevastopol, Russia), CSc (Geogr.), ORCID ID: 0000-0002-8808-3255, Scopus Author ID: 57204474315, ResearcherID: 3668033, e_katerina.05@mail.ru

For citation

Baranenko, A.V., Golubeva, E.I. and Kashirina, E.S., 2026. Pollution of Crimean Coastal Towns Soil with Heavy Metals and Petroleum Products. Ecological Safety of Coastal and Shelf Zones of Sea, (1), pp. 114–128.

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