Assessment of agricultural ecosystem benzo(a)pyrene pollution on a wheat field model

Abstract

The represented research aims to assess the pollution of agricultural ecosystems with benzo(a)pyrene. The study considers the exhaust gases of heavy farming machinery as a primary source of pollution. This dangerous carcinogen entering air with internal combustion engines exhausts goes to the water and soil, and then, through the trophic chains, in a human body. Alongside the obvious negative impacts on human health, the benzo(a)pyrene exposure manifests through the decline in the agricultural ecosystems’ productivity, soil fertility, etc. The assessment was implemented on a wheat field model during harvest using the direct combining method. The model doesn’t consider the ambient pollution sources. The performed simulations allow disclosing the correlations between the harvesting machine’s velocity and pollutant’s emission mass on the model field, identifying the most environmentally dangerous engine’s operation mode, and pointing out the possible ways to decrease the benzo(a)pyrene impacts on agricultural ecosystems.