The research focuses on the presentation and discussion of data on the level of pollution by heavy metals, petroleum hydrocarbons, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and organochlorine pesticides in five cities of Ukraine under high anthropogenic pressure: Kharkiv, Dnipro, Kryvy Rih, Mariupol, and Zaporizhzhia. Sample inorganic materials (bottom sediments and sand from children’s playgrounds) were collected at selected sites. Experts at the Institute of Chemical Technology in Prague conducted an assessment of the impact of pollutants on local residents and on the environment. Samples were collected during an expedition to Ukraine in May 2018. In order to establish the background level of individual pollutants, samples were taken in the Chernihiv region as an agricultural region with an expected low level of pollution.
The selection expedition was organized and conducted within the framework of the project “Enough to Grow Ukraine: Coalition” For Clean Air “, implemented through the cooperation of public organizations, the Citizen Support Center Arnika (Czech Republic) and the Center for Environmental Initiatives” Ecody “(Ukraine) . The project is funded by the Transition Program of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic.
This booklet presents the results of both studies of bottom sediments and sand from children’s playgrounds.
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Industrial Ukraine: Impact of pollution on inhabitants and the environment in five industrial cities (PDF)