Accumulation of Lead and Cadmium by Vegetables at Different Levels of Gray Forest Soil Moistening in the Conditions of the Right Bank Forest Steppe of Ukraine

Providing a sufficient level of moisture while growing vegetables is the key to a high yield, its excessive or insufficient amount can lead to negative phenomena – disrupt the normal functioning of plants, deteriorate their chemical composition, etc. Every year, in certain areas of Ukraine, in particular, the Right Bank Forest Steppe, one can observe unevenness of the amount in precipitation (from a very low level to an abnormally high level in a short period of time). During heavy rainfall, the plant nutrition system is disrupted due to the movement of chemicals into deeper layers of the soil, which may become inaccessible to the root system of plants, thereby changing the quantitative and qualitative indicators of their production. The purpose and main direction of the research was aimed at studying the influence of different levels of gray forest soil moisture in the conditions of the Right Bank Forest Steppe of Ukraine on the content, accumulation coefficients and danger of lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) in the leaf mass of parsley, dill and spinach grown in the zone of man-made influence (from mobile sources of pollution). According to research results, it was established that vegetable plants (parsley, dill, spinach) can accumulate several times more Pb and Cd per unit mass compared to the content of these toxicants in the same mass of soil. At a high level of soil moisture (98–134 mm) during the formation of the leaf mass of vegetables, a lower content and coefficient of accumulation of Pb and Cd in the leaf mass of parsley, dill, and spinach was observed, compared to moderate soil moisture (30–37 mm). The results of the research indicate that when growing parsley, dill, and spinach on gray forest soils under man-made conditions with a high (98–134 mm) level of moisture during the formation of their leaf mass, a decrease in the content of Pb and Cd in the leaf mass of these plants is observed.