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Risks of Soil Pollution with Toxic Elements During Military Actions in Lviv
 
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1
Department of Ecology and Sustainable Environmental Management, Viacheslav Chornovil Institute of Sustainable Development, Lviv Polytechnic National University, S. Bandery Str. 12, 79013 Lviv, Ukraine
 
2
Department of Advance Materials Technologies, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, ul. C.K. Norwida 4/6, 50-373 Wroclaw, Poland
 
 
Corresponding author
Myroslav S. Malovanyy   

Department of Ecology and Sustainable Environmental Management, Viacheslav Chornovil Institute of Sustainable Development, Lviv Polytechnic National University, S. Bandery Str. 12, 79013 Lviv, Ukraine
 
 
J. Ecol. Eng. 2024; 25(1):195-208
 
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ABSTRACT
Considering that approximately 20% of the nation's land remains under the occupation of Russian forces, assessing the impact of the invasion in the midst of ongoing conflict is a formidable chal-lenge. However, even the limited available data offers a distressing glimpse into an ecological catastrophe. The detonation of rockets and artillery shells leads to the generation of a variety of chemical compounds containing elements such as zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), lead (Pb), chromium (Cr), nickel (Ni), and cadmium (Cd). The primary goal of this research was to ascertain the pres-ence of potentially hazardous elements (PTE) within the soil in areas subjected to targeted rocket attacks within the Lviv districts. Soil samples were gathered from four locations in the city of Lviv, which had been impacted by rocket fire, using a concentric circle sampling methodology. Two distinct instrumental techniques, namely X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF) and Inductively Coupled Plasma-Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP-OES), were employed to quantify the con-centration of heavy metals within the soil samples. Results revealed that all soil samples exhibited a significant exceedance of the maximum allowable concentrations for titanium (Ti), zinc (Zn), lead (Pb), and nickel (Ni). To assess the leachability and bioavailability of these elements within the soil, various extraction methods were applied in aqueous conditions and in the presence of ammonium citrate. The latter method demonstrated high effectiveness in extracting zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), chromium (Cr), and cadmium (Cd) from the soil. The level of soil contamination was evaluated using diverse criteria, including the contamination factor (Cf), the environmental risk factor (Er), the potential environmental risk index (Ri), the geoaccumulation index (Igeo), and the environmental risk factor (NIPI - National Iron plus Initiative). The computed cumulative envi-ronmental impact of all elements (NIPI = 49.001 and NIRI = 54.941, National Investor Relations Institute) underscores the substantial pollution within the surveyed area.
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