Chemical pollution of soil in Russian Arctic cities

Timely detection of anthropogenic impact on the environment is an important scientific and practical task. The soil accumulates chemical pollutants and can be a source of secondary pollution of atmospheric air and water bodies. Chemicals contained in the soil can affect public health through direct contact with the soil and indirectly through atmospheric air and water in contact with the soil. The purpose of the study is to evaluate the soil quality of urban settlements in the Russian Arctic by chemical parameters. The results of laboratory studies and soil tests carried out in 2024 as part of social and hygienic monitoring were used. Statistical data processing was carried out, and the total indicators of Zc soil pollution for the cities of the Murmansk region were calculated. In 2024, the soil of 27 of the 31 analyzed Arctic cities met hygienic standards. The absence of excess hygiene standards in the soil of the Arctic cities of the Republic of Karelia, the Republic of Komi, the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), the Chukotka and Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrugs may be due not only to soil quality, but also to the lack of control of chemicals. According to the degree of chemical contamination of the soil of the cities of Apatity, Zapolyarny, Kandalaksha, Kovdor, Kirovsk, Monchegorsk, Olenegorsk, Severomorsk belongs to the "permissible" category, the cities of Kola and Murmansk belong to the "moderately dangerous" category. The organization of soil monitoring complies with existing recommendations only in the Arctic cities of the Arkhangelsk region. Monitoring programs should be reviewed in the cities of the Komi Republic, the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) and the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug. In the cities of the Krasnoyarsk Territory and the Murmansk Region, it is necessary to increase the sampling frequency, and in the Republic of Karelia and the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, to expand the list of chemical parameters studied. Further research will be devoted to the possibility of using the results of environmental monitoring and permafrost monitoring to assess the impact of soil on public health.