Heavy Metal Contamination Assessment in Near Surface Soils: A Case Study from Subarctic Region of Russia

Abstract

Under the initiative of a routine ecological screening taken by the Russian state territories, soil surface assessment of heavy metals such as Cr, Cu, Ni, Mn, etc. was conducted in a city called Noyabrsk located in a subarctic region of Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug (YNAO) Russia. During survey a total of 321 soil samples were collected from different parts of the region including residential (237 samples), industrial (80 samples) and from background locations (4 samples) of the city. In order to determine the general ecological conditions of the area chemical analysis was conducted. Geostatistical tools along with other statistical techniques have been adopted to explore, analyse and map the obtained concentrations of the heavy metals. Results drawn have revealed some moderate - high anomalies of As, Cr and oil concentrations in industrial as well as in residential regions that can be a threat to public health. The aim of the paper is to assess the pollution status of urban soil and discuss the soil contamination sources for the future planning and management of Noyabrsk city. © Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd.