Areas polluted by heavy metals

Abstract

There are a number of major heavy metal smelters located in the boreal coniferous forest zone. Heavy metal emissions have severely polluted the soil in the surrounding areas, heavy metal and sulphur dioxide emissions have damaged the vegetation and caused nutrient disturbances, and heavy metals have had toxic effects on soil biota (Freedman and Hutchinson 1980a, b, Nordgren et al. 1986, Lobersli and Steinnes 1988, Fritze et al. 1989, Lukina and Nikonov 1995). The environmental effects of the Cu-Ni smelters at Sudbury, Canada, are well documented (Hutchinson and Whitby 1977). Extensive areas in the Kola Peninsula, NW Russia, have been severely polluted by heavy metals, and the effects of emissions from the Cu-Ni smelters in the region have recently been investigated in a multi-disciplinary research programmes (Norin and Yarmishko 1990, Tikkanen and Niemelä 1995, Yarmishko 1997). Most of the emissions from the Kola smelters have been distributed over an area with a radius of about 40 km around the smelters. However, some effects are detectable in eastern parts of Inari, north-eastern Finland.