This is the warning of a new study that has found evidence of heavy metal pollution from shelling in France during World War 1 – more than a century ago. Soils sampled from craters along the Western Front were found to contain elevated levels of both lead and copper, which may inhibit plant growth. Researchers call the long-term effects of explosive munitions on the soil “bomb turbation.”
According to author and soil scientist Dr Naomi Rintoul-Hynes of Kent’s Canterbury Christ Church University, the findings in France point to the long-term consequences of the current conflict in Ukraine.
“In addition to the short-term effects on agriculture from crop supply chain problems, these fields could be dangerously contaminated by munitions in the long term.
“Maybe for 100 years or more.
“This could affect food security, not just in Ukraine, but potentially on a global scale.”
In 2021, Ukraine produced about 80 million tons of wheat, maize and barley — accounting for a staggering six percent of all calories traded in the international food market — but this year, the country is expected to harvest less than half that amount.
dr. Rintoul-Hynes continued: “In Europe, World War I left a legacy on the environment through the extensive and intensive use of artillery during this period.
“In a process called ‘bomb turbation’, significant physical changes have occurred in the landscape subject to artillery fire, resulting in varying soil development in craters.
“The concentrations of heavy metals in the soil did not differ within craters of the flat landscape.
“However, an enrichment with lead and copper was observed above the base values for the region.”
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The research site, the researchers said, has not been decontaminated or rebuilt.
They sampled 22 cores from the center of 11 bomb craters and compared the collected soil to that of 50 cores extracted from flat, relatively undisturbed soil.
The researchers found that the lead level in the disturbed soil was above safe legal limits, as defined by both the UK and the European Union.
This, said Dr. Rintoul-Hynes, has likely had “ecotoxicological and human health effects.
“Although copper was below the threshold for soils in the UK and EU, some samples had lead concentrations above these limits.
“Therefore, this needs to be taken into account when considering a land use change — that is, in agriculture.”
She added: “Environmental damage has been a by-product, and sometimes a deliberate strategy, of war since ancient times.
dr. However, Rintoul-Hynes continued, “The scale of warfare increased to an industrial level in the 20th century.”
Fighting along the Western Front, the soil expert said, resulted in an “unmatched concentration” of weapons, with an estimated 1.45 billion shells fired.
An estimated 30 percent of this munitions failed to explode – with the French bomb disposal teams reportedly destroying an average of 467 tons of unexploded ordnance each year.
The full findings of the study have been published in the European journal of soil science.