Painted surfaces as a source of soil pollution with heavy metals in areas of scientific stations in Antarctica
S.V. KAKAREKA1, T.I. KUKHARCHYK1, S.YU. TARASENKO2, K.O. RABYCHIN1, N.E. SOSNOVSKAYA1, E.V. KORZUN3
1Institute of Nature Management of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, Minsk, Belarus
2Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute, Saint Petersburg, Russia
3Scientific and Practical Center of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus for Bioresources, Minsk, Belarus
Keywords: Antarctic oases, buildings, vehicles, paint coatings, corrosion
Abstract
The article presents the results of the study of the heavy metal content in soil and paint samples collected at the Belarusian (“Mount Vechernyaya”) and a number of Russian scientific stations (“Bellingshausen”, “Mirny”, “Progress”, “Novolazarevskaya”) and field bases (“Molodezhnaya”, “Druzhnaya-4”). The studies were carried out in the summer Antarctic seasons of 2021/22 and 2022/23. Paint samples were collected from old painted surfaces of buildings/infrastructure elements and abandoned vehicles. Soil samples were collected near buildings from a depth of 0-10 or 0-15 cm. The content of heavy metals (Cd, Cr, Cu, Pb, Ni, Zn) in solid substrate samples was determined using atomic absorption spectrometry. It was found that the content of lead in previously used paints in 76 % of cases, zinc in 60 % of cases, and chromium in 47 % of cases exceeded 1000 mg/kg of dry matter. High concentrations of cadmium (more than 10 mg/kg) were recorded in 20 % of cases. A wide range of measured concentrations of most heavy metals was revealed in soil samples near painted surfaces, with the maximum recorded lead content. The condition of painted surfaces at the research stations, destruction of coatings, and paint removal by strong winds are discussed. It is shown that local high concentrations of heavy metals in Antarctic soils (“hot spots”) can be caused by their leaching from painted surfaces and dispersion of paint fragments. The need for special studies to quantitatively assess the impact of paint coatings on the content of heavy metals in the soils of Antarctic oases is substantiated.
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