Известия Томского политехнического университета: Инжиниринг георесурсов (Sep 2017)
Bromine in the soils of Tomsk region
Abstract
The research relevance. Nowadays bromine remains one of the least studied chemical elements that, evidently, leads to the absence of any standards in some environmental media such as soil or food. Having high reactivity and migration capacity, bromine can easily penetrate to living organism through the food chain. High toxicity of bromine and its negative effects on physiological functions of living organisms define a necessity of detailed researches on this issue to be conducted. Since the soil is the primary «producer» of nutrients for plants, and, consequently, for other living organisms (including a human), the need to study its chemical composition is a high-priority objective. The main aim is to study bromine content and its distribution particularities in soils of Tomsk region. The methods used: the main method of the research is Instrumental neutron activation analysis. Results. The paper introduces the results of the study of chemical elements in the soils of settlements in 14 districts of Tomsk region. High concentrations of bromine in the soils of certain territories were found. The comparative analysis of bromine accumulation levels in soils of Tomsk region with soils of other regions of Russia and foreign counties was carried out. Correlations of Br with other chemical elements were established. The authors have discussed possible natural and anthropogenic factors influencing the accumulation of the element. Findings. The authors determined the pollution level of soils in Tomsk region and its individual districts according to the calculation of the total soil pollution index. It was found out that bromine is the only element, the values of the concentration coefficients of which exceed 10 units for soils in almost all districts of the region. It was found that the bromine contents in soils of Tomsk region are above the soil concentrations specified for soils of the world, the clarke contents of the element as well as levels found in soils of other regions of Russia. The maximum bromine concentrations were found in the soils of Bakcharsky district.
