ABSTRACT
The technogenic pollution affects all four substances forming the residential and life-supporting systems, that is the atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, and lithosphere. From the ecological point of view, the most dangerous are chemical technologies, especially those involving electrolysis, pyrometallurgy, and burning of solid fuel; this group includes some agricultural technologies that use toxic organic substances. Because the term pollution is used in the context of environmental problems, it would be logical to take the limits of ecosystem tolerance as criteria for pollution. The issue is more of biological than geochemical nature, but the interests of biology and geochemistry intersect where biological migration of chemical elements is concerned. According to the technology used in Russia, three types of radioactive material are extracted from spent nuclear fuel: elements that can be used as nuclear fuel; fission fragments; and transuranium elements. Ecological monitoring is a comprehensive monitoring of the current state of the environment, including components of the natural environment and natural ecological systems with processes.
