Māris kļaviņŠ, azamat azizov, JĀnis zaļoksnis environment, pollution, development: the case of uzbekistan

Figure 9.3. 
The most 
important groups of 
substances, which 
are characteristic of 
pollution of urban and 
industrially used soils in 
EU countries

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190 
ENVIRONMENT, POLLUTION, DEVELOPMENT:  THE CASE OF UZBEKISTAN
environ ment and nature as a whole than the chemical elements or 
their compounds existing within the Earth’s crust under natural 
conditions. Most of the pollution that enters into the deeper layers 
first of all enter the soil and affect soil processes and fertility.
Point source pollution is created, for example, by oil and 
petroleum  product  leakage  from  pipelines,  landfills,  vehicle  wash 
and fuelling stations, and other sources. The main sources of diffuse 
pollution are agricultural activities such as treatment of grain 
with pesticides, as well as dissemination of various chemicals with 
precipitation. Much of the contamination from point source and 
diffuse pollution enter into the ground water, which can affect the 
quality of drinking water. 
The soil is considered to be the central node in terrestrial 
ecosystems, because the whole ecosystem substance circulation 
and energy flow runs through it. At the same time, the soil is also 
an ecosystem component, which accumulates the environ mental 
pollution created as a result of human activities. Next, depending 
on the circumstances, this pollution can reach groundwater, and be 
discharged into rivers and lakes with surface runoff, or remain in 
the soil indefinitely, affecting terrestrial plants and animals.
The main sources of soil pollution today are agriculture, 
industry and transport. In agriculture, soil contamination results 
from  fertilizer  application  in  fields  –  the  use  of  both  organic  and 
mineral  fertilizers,  pesticide  use  to  fight  the  weeds  and  pests  of 
agricultural crops.
Industrial plants can contaminate the soil with solid production 
waste  material,  as  well  as  with  atmo spheric  emissions  –  gaseous 
substances and dust, which can be transported for long distances 
with the air masses and deposited in the soil or leach into the soil 
with precipitation water. Unlike factory pollution, which is of a 
point source type, vehicles – cars, aircrafts, trains – create gas and 
dust  pollution,  which  is  diffuse,  it  spreads  in  all  directions  from 
the motorways, thus contaminating wide areas and also the places 
where  there  are  no  industrial  enterprises.  A  particular  type  of 
soil contamination is the radioactive contamination, which has its 
origins in the nuclear tests or nuclear power plant accidents.