Cadmium and lead in the Soimonov valley soil, Karabash: Mobility, bioavailability and ecological risks

Mineral mining and processing activities generate substantial anthropogenic load on natural ecosystems. As a consequence, powerful flows of pollutants, including heavy metals such as Cd and Pb, appear and enter soil; they represent potential health hazard. Such problem develops in the Soimonov valley nearby Karabash in the Chelyabinsk Region. Here, natural and manmade ground was investigated in terms of total content and fraction composition of cadmium and lead in the zone of the Karabash geo-and-man-made system. Extraction of cadmium and lead from soil was carried out using Tessier’s method. It is found as a result that the test soils have mostly surface contamination in a layer 0–30 cm thick; the contamination degree exceeds total cadmium and lead contents of the Earth’s crust by 200 and 100 times, respectively. Distribution of fractions of the metals in the soil section is nonuniform. Cadmium is mostly present in exchange and carbonate fractions, and also in a fraction connected with an organic substance. Lead is present in a pseudosorbed form with Fe/Mn oxides and, in a less degree, with an organic substance. Lead, as against cadmium, is contained in a tightly bound residuum fraction, which proves its weaker mobility as compared with cadmium. Total content of cadmium and lead in lower-lying levels is of geogenic nature, and this soil features the increased geochemical background. The surface levels are rich in cadmium and lead because of induced inflow, which is confirmed by the calculated factors of enrichment and ecological risk. These results prove mobility and bioavailability of metal fractions. The research findings can promote development of activities aimed at improvement of regional ecological situation, and facilitate adjustment and normalization of general geochemical background in the test area.

Shabanov M. V., Marichev M. S., Burachevskaya M. V., Minkina T. M., Bauer T. V. Cadmium and lead in the Soimonov valley soil, Karabash: Mobility, bioavailability and ecological risks. MIAB. Mining Inf. Anal. Bull. 2025;(4):104-120. [In Russ]. DOI: 10.25018/ 0236_1493_2025_4_0_104.

The study was supported by the Ministry of Education of Russia, Agreement No. 073-00033-24-01, and by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of Russia, Project No. FENW-2023-0008.

M.V. Shabanov¹, Cand. Sci. (Agr.), Assistant Professor, Assistant Professor, e-mail: geohim.spb@gmail.com, Scopus Author ID: 35171489500, ORCID ID: 0000-0003-4725-3673,
M.S. Marichev¹, Cand. Sci. (Biol.), Head of Laboratory, e-mail: m.s.marichev@yandex.ru, Scopus Author ID: 57216298057, ORCID ID: 0000-0003-0429-2234,
M.V. Burachevskaya, Cand. Sci. (Biol.), Head of Laboratory, Tula State Lev Tolstoy Pedagogical University, 300026, Tula Russia, e-mail: marina.0911@mail.ru, Scopus Author ID: 55656700000, ORCID ID: 0000-0002-0533-0418,
T.M. Minkina², Dr. Sci. (Biol.), Professor, Head of Chair, e-mail: minkina@sfedu.ru, Scopus Author ID: 15063165400, ORCID ID: 0000-0003-3022-0883,
T.V. Bauer², Cand. Sci. (Biol.), Leading Researcher,
D.I. Ivanovsky Academy of Biology and Biotechnology, e-mail: bauertatyana@mail.ru, Scopus Author ID: 55928833000, ORCID ID: 0000-0002-6751-8686,
¹ Saint-Petersburg State Agrarian University, 196607, Pushkin, Russia,
² Southern Federal University, 344090, Rostov-on-Don, Russia.

M.S. Marichev, e-mail: m.s.marichev@yandex.ru.

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