Assessment of heavy metals content in apple orchards soils by various modern methods

The purpose of research is to study the content of heavy metals in the soils of apple orchards using various modern methods. The results of a study of the content of heavy metals in the soils of apple orchards of the Sverdlovsk horticulture breeding station and peasant farms in the Chelyabinsk Region, obtained by the methods of inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry and atomic absorption spectrometry, are presented. The quantitative content of heavy metals in the soils of these agrocenoses, determined by different methods, is comparable. The concentration of elements in the soils of both sites changes in the following order: Mn > Zn > Ni > Cu > Co > Pb > Cd. In the soddy-podzolic soils of the horticulture breeding station, the minimum variability in the quantitative characteristics of elements was determined for Ni (47.7-58.0 mg/kg), the maximum for Cu (33.1-56.7 mg/kg). An increased amount of heavy metals (Cd - on average from 25 to 31 %; Cu - from 9 to 53; Pb - from 4 to 46; Zn - from 9 to 36 %) is characteristic of the soil area occupied by the cultivation of apple trees of the Blagaya Vest variety. In soddy soils of peasant farms, the minimum variability was recorded for Co (12.6-18.4 mg/kg), the maximum for Pb (4.5-8.4 mg/kg). The soils used for cultivating Ekrannoye apple trees are distinguished by higher levels of metals (Cd - on average from 9 to 21 %; Mn - from 21 to 35 %; Pb - 1.7-1.8 times) compared to other soil samples from this agrocenosis. In the soils of both apple orchards, the levels of heavy metals did not exceed the regulated norms of SanPiN 1.2.3685-21, which indicates their environmental well-being. However, the values of the analyzed heavy elements were slightly higher in the soils of the horticultural breeding station, which is presumably due to their location within the city limits of Yekaterinburg, which was initially characterized by an increased technogenic load.