Geographical distribution of dioxins, cadmium, and mercury concentrations in reindeer liver, kidneys, and muscle in the Russian Far North.

Reindeer herding is a vitally important agricultural sector in the Russian Far North. It is believed that Northern ecosystems readily accumulate persistent pollutants because of trophic chains and climate features peculiar to the region. Reindeers graze on vast areas, and their seasonal migrations to distances of up to hundreds of kilometers in the North-South direction increase the likelihood of crossing a locally polluted area.

Solid phase extraction of PCDDs/PCDFs and dioxin-like PCBs from edible oils and fats.

We have studied the feasibility of solid phase extraction of PCDDs/PCDFs and dioxin-like PCBs from oils and fats as the first step of a sample preparation procedure that would not involve the chemical decomposition of the matrix. A few experimental setups using dual-layer columns packed with various brands of active carbon were tested. The use of a dual-layer microcolumn with AX-21 and Carboxen 1000 carbons for dioxins extraction from animal fats, vegetable oils and powdered milk gave satisfactory recoveries which met the European Union Commission Regulation 2017/644 criteria for dioxin analysis.

The content of dioxins and furans in soils, bottom sediments of water bodies, and tissues of small mammals near the landfill site with municipal solid wastes (Moscow, Russia).

For the first time, the levels of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) were characterized in the tissues of wild small mammals living in contaminated sites near a municipal solid waste landfill (Moscow, Russia). The Ural field mice Sylvaemus uralensis, the bank voles Clethrionomys glareolus, and the common shrews Sorex araneus were trapped at 1- and 5-km distances from the landfield "Salariyevo." High-resolution chromatography-mass spectrometry was used to measure the levels of 17 PCDD/Fs congeners in the animal organisms and natural objects (soils, bottom sediments).

[The response of forest ecosystems to reduction in industrial atmospheric emission in the Kola Subarctic].

In spite of reduction in atmospheric emission, current state of forest ecosystems within the impact zone of Severonickel enterprise still reflects the entire spectrum of anthropogenic digression stages. As the distance to the enterprise grows shorter, structural-functional changes in forest communities are manifested in dropping out of mosses and lichens, replacement of undershrub by Poaceae, worsening of timber stand and undergrowth conditions and their progressive dying-off, and, as a result, in forming of anthropogenic wastelands. Alterations of elemental composition of fir bark and needles due to exposure to pollutants consist in accumulation of nickel, copper, cobalt, arsenic, and sulfur along with depletion of calcium, magnesium, manganese, and zinc.