Artillery damage could pollute fields for decades
POLLUTION caused by artillery bombardments could mean farmers in Ukraine lose crops for at least 100 years, says a study.
The country produces much of the world’s grain supply – and has been subjected to widespread artillery damage from Russian attacks.
A new study in northern France has discovered heavy metal pollution from shelling during the Battle of the Somme in 1916.
It has been dubbed “bombturbation” – the longterm effects of explosive munitions, ranging from grenades to heavy artillery.
The phenomenon was identified in soil from craters in the Pas-de-Calais region.
Analysis found the dirt contains elevated levels of copper and lead – which destroys plants. Corresponding author Dr Naomi Rintoul-Hynes, of Canterbury Christ Church University, Kent, said of the fallout from war: “As well as the short-term impacts to agriculture through crop supply chain issues, fields may be dangerously contaminated by munitions in the long term – possibly for 100 years or more.”
She added: “This could impact food security not only in Ukraine, but potentially on a global scale.” The British team focused on a small wood that was the scene of significant battles. Many other areas came under even more intense fire.
Dr Rintoul-Hynes said: “The FirstWorldWar has left a legacy on the environment due to the extensive and intense use of artillery during this period.”
The study site has not been relandscaped or decontaminated and some lead levels were above legal limits deemed safe for soils in the UK and European Union.
Dr Rintoul-Hynes added that it is likely the pollution has had “ecotoxicological and human health effects”.
Forty per cent of theWorld Food Programme’s wheat supplies come from Ukraine.
It produces a whopping six per cent of all calories traded in the international food market.
The findings are published in the European Journal Of Soil Science.