Assessment of the ecological risk of pollution of soil and bottom sediments in the Ukrainian Danube region

Abstract

Purpose. The paper deals with assessment of the ecological risks of pollution of soil at the sites where unusable plant protection chemicals are stored, and of the bottom sediments in the Ukrainian section of the Danube and in the Danube region lakes. Methodology. The applied analytical methods and synthesis of the data obtained while monitoring the studied objects, comparing data, logical generalization and analogies in combination with expert appraisals and monographic and graphical analytic studies. Findings. It was concluded that the condition of land resources of the Danube region of Ukraine is unsatisfactory. The risk of the soil ecosystem instability in the majority of the region areas is assessed as high. The monitoring data pertaining to the sites where unusable plant protection chemicals are stored indicate that the maximum permissible concentrations of certain pollutants surpass the standards by 5.032.0 times. The ecological condition of soils is assessed as medium bad while the risks are at the level varying between considerable to high. The ecological condition of bottom sediments in the Lower Danube is assessed as satisfactory, except in Kuhurlui, Yalpuh and Kytai Lakes where it is unsatisfactory. The ecological risk level in the Ukrainian section of the Danube and in the Danube region ranges from high to considerable. Originality. For the first time ever, for the Danube region of Ukraine a comprehensive assessment of the ecological risk of soil pollution, which included assessment of the risk of instability of the soil ecosystem resulting from storage of unusable plant protection chemicals, was performed. The integral assessment of the bottom sediment pollution was made for the site located between Reni town and the Danube estuary, and in Danube Lakes. Analysis of the existing methodologies for assessment of the ecological risk of soil and bottom sediment pollution enabled to develop and apply recommendations how to use indicator values describing the ecological condition with due account of the physical degradation and pollution criteria. Practical value. The obtained results can be used for the development of a strategy of effective and sustainable management of the Ukrainian Danube regions natural resources based upon the instruments and mechanisms aimed at solution of the social and economic development problems bearing in mind possible impact of the destabilizing factors.