Methodological and conceptual problems of oil pollution in soil

The relevance of the normalization of petroleum hydrocarbons in soil is due, inter alia, to their ubiquity. Negative impacts on soil cover, atmospheric air, surface and groundwaters, ecological systems and public health are noted at all stages of development of oil fields — from drilling to industrial processing, liquidation of equipment and delivery to the consumer. In addition, various technologies for the destruction of oil contamination (re-cultivation, sanitation, etc.) are actively being developed, but they are not widely used, because there is no norm for a safe level of their content for humans and environmental objects. The article deals with problems of hygienic regulation of petroleum hydrocarbons in the soil. Methods are presented for the quantitative determination of oil and oil products in soil, as well as conceptual issues in the system for estimating oil as a soil pollutant. The subordinate legislation, taking into account the lists of pollutants, in respect of which state regulation measures in the field of environmental protection are applied, are sanctified. Toxic oxygen-containing products are shown to be formed asa result of the transformation of the hydrocarbon component of the component composition of the oil. Threshold concentrations of the safe content of petroleum hydrocarbons in the soil in a vegetation experiment (500 mg/kg), water migration — 10,000 mg/kg and a total of 21,000 mg/kg were determined. Priority directions of research on the establishment of a safe level of oil hydrocarbon contamination in the soil according to the airborne migration index of harmfulness, as well as the quantitative determination of petroleum hydrocarbons in agricultural plants are indicated.