OIL POLLUTION AND ASSOCIATED HEAVY METALS, RADIONUCLIDES IN THE BODY OF HYDROBIOTAS OF THE KAZAKHSTAN ZONE OF THE CASPIAN SEA

• Main Authors: Aitkhazha B. Bigaliev, Aizada N. Kozhakhmetova
• Format: Article
• Language: Russian
• Published: Tomsk Polytechnic University 2020-12-01
• Series: Известия Томского политехнического университета: Инжиниринг георесурсов
• Subjects: caspiansea; test-objects; biological effect; radiation; pollutants
• Online Access: http://izvestiya.tpu.ru/archive/article/view/2939/2362

The relevance of the research is caused by the extremely unfavorable state of ecological system of the Caspian sea and the coastal zone. In the nearest future, intensive development of oil and gas fields on the continental shelf of the Caspian sea (Kashagan) may dramatically increase the environmental burden not only on the Kazakh part of the Caspian region, but also on the entire water area of the middle and Northern part of the Caspian sea. Oil as a pollutant contains polyaromatic hydrocarbons, which represent a wide class of environmentally stable organic compounds. It is generally accepted that the toxic and carcinogenic effects of polyaromatic hydrocarbons are caused by their metabolites. Pyrene is the main component of oil and the studied oil samples always contain it. The main aim of this study is to determine polyaromatic hydrocarbons in oil and metabolite (benz(a)pyrene), as well as associated heavy metals and radionuclidesin the body of test objects as a sufficiently objective method for assessing environmental risk. Objects. The aquatic (picses, molluskas, polyhetas) and terrestrial inhabitants(earthworm) of the coastal zone of the Caspian sea were selected from natural populations as test-objects (bio-indicators). Methods: atomic adsorption spectrometry and radiological methods of research. Results. The authors have analyzed the ability of hydro-biota’s and ground representatives capable of accumulating petroleum products, included heavy metals and radionuclides and studied the main features of accumulation of pollutants in the body of test-objects representing different ecology systems of the studied zone, determined the level of total radioactivity. The paper compares the studied species of hydro-biota’s, the content of petroleum products, heavy metals and radionuclides in organs and tissues.