Arsenic Contamination Map of Soils in Racha-Lechkhumi and Lower Svaneti Regions and Soil Phytoremediation

Mining enterprises and waste products of “white arsenic” (AS2O3) production are the main sources of technogenic soil pollution in the Racha-Lechkhumi and Lower Svaneti regions resulting ecosystems, especially soils pollution with arsenic. Arsenic pollution in the region were identified and mapped. Arsenic content and hazard indices were determined in soil samples taken from industrial, agricultural, recreational and background soils; agricultural plots of Ambrolauri municipality were selected for phytoremediation, an environmentally friendly and inexpensive method for cleaning soil from harmful toxins. This research aims to introduce arsenic phytoremediation in the Racha-Lechkhumi and Lower Svaneti regions to restore soil fertility. Three plants, Amaranthus gangeticus, Helianthus annuus and Chenopodium album, were selected to assess their ability of accumulation and transportation of arsenic from contaminated soil. The seeds of the selected plants were treated with the bioactivator Biorag to increase the green mass of the plant. The plants were sown and harvested. The plants were collected in a raw state, and dried for two weeks, after drying, the plants (their parts – roots, shoots or the whole plant) were processed with a microwave digester – Milestone – Start D and the total form of arsenic was determined by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy – ICP-OES. Arsenic concentration, bioconcentration factor (BCF), translocation factor (TF), and arsenic content in the total plant mass were calculated. The study found that the selected plants can accumulate and remove arsenic from contaminated soil, which is a necessary condition for the successful implementation of phytoremediation. According to the data of 2024, the efficiency of phytoremediation was determined to be 71– (extracted by the plant), and the amount remaining in the soil was 29–. The methods and techniques of mathematical statistics and probability theory were used to analyze the measurements in the work.