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Pollution of environment by heavy metals

Pollution of environment by heavy metals

Pollution of environment by heavy metals

Recently an anthropogenic pollution of environment by heavy metals becomes one of the main hazards for living organisms, including humans, and economic and technic progress more often is a reason of ecosystem dysfunction.

More than 40 chemical elements are heavy metals. These are chrome, manganese, ferrum, cobalt, nickel, cuprum, zink, gallium, germanium, molybdenum, cadmium, stannic, antimony, tellurium, wolfram, hydrargyrum, thallium, lead, bismuth etc. They are usually used in industries and part of inorganic and organic compounds, herbicides and medical products.

Strong industry, branched transport networks, many residential developments and increasing of traffic on roads (as a result increasing of gasoline service stations) are factors that increase a risk of heavy metals concentration in environment.

As you know, heavy metals can accumulate at all stages of environmental pyramid. Their impact can cause distance effect, for example: cancerogenic, mutagenic effects, also long-term toxic impact on gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, endocrine, reproductive and excitatory systems, and increased risk of infertility. Regarding to their accumulating in organism, over the years they cause weakening of immune system, chronic diseases exacerbations. Each heavy metal has its own specifications of impact on living organism. Therefore, for example, hydrargyrum affects on excitatory system and kidneys, and cadmium affects on lungs, nose mucous membrane and gastrointestinal system.

However, nowadays the refusing of heavy metals is impossible, that is why they continue to be comprehensively used in many sectors of industry.

Specifically, the presence of heavy metals in environments is strictly regulated. The maximum permissible emissions were developed for its compulsory compliance and determining the coefficient of danger of enterprise and the size of its sanitary-hygenic zone.

MCL has a long-term experience in providing ecological services for leading Ukrainian companies and proposes a complex of services related with justifying and reducing the size of sanitary hygienic zone.

It is important to know that an atmospheric air pollution is essential problem, therefore heavy metals can enter the human body directly from air, but don’t forget that from atmosphere they can move on long distance, settle on the surface of soil, involving in circulation of elements and cause global contamination.

Due to an evolution of humanity, with time the concentration of heavy metals in soils increases. They are accumulated in soil stratum, especially, in top humus horizon that negatively affect on soil fertility, microbiological activity and growing plants.

Many heavy metals can move in biosphere that lead to their entering in agricultural products and consequently in human organism. In view of this, for carrying out any activity related with land use, it required to conduct study of the territory, its previous using, types of soils and agrochemical structure. It plays a major part for providing a guarantee of your successful activity.

MCLproposes complex of services in the field of land use, including conducting agrochemical researches of soil, designing of agrochemical certificate of land plot, designing a remediation project of disturbed and contaminated lands, and conducting of remediation.