Comprehensive Assessment of the Kaspiy Cement Plant and South Shetpe Chalk Deposit Impact on the Environment of the Western Part of the Mangystau Region (Kazakhstan)

To date, there is insufficient data on the content and level of accumulation of heavy metals in soils and plants of urbanized territories of the Mangystau Region in Western Kazakhstan. For the first time, the content and accumulation of a number of heavy metals in soils on the territory of the Kaspiy Cement Plant and the South Shetpe Chalk Deposit were studied. Based on the results of quantitative determination of the content of heavy metals in plants and soils using atomic absorption spectrophotometry obtained after acid decomposition of air-dried soil samples and plant material, the pollution level was assessed and an elemental series of heavy metals was presented in descending order of their concentrations in the soils of the studied sites: Ni > Cd > Cr > Cu > As > Zn > Pb. The values of the technogenic concentration coefficient for nickel and cadmium are similar (the total pollution index Zc > 2) for most test sites. The maximum values of the technogenic concentration coefficient are also noted for copper in all test sites. The degree of soil contamination with heavy metals decreases in the western plain, in front of the foothills, between the plant and the shift settlement, where the influence of chalk dust and harmful emissions of production is not traced. There is a tendency to increase the accumulation of heavy metals in leaves as environmental conditions deteriorate. Heavy metals, such as lead and zinc, do not exceed MPC values in terms of gross content in soils in areas with anthropogenic load.