The project of Tatiana Bauer, supported by a grant from the President of the Russian Federation, is aimed at studying the patterns of behavior of heavy metals (for example, chromium and lead) and lanthanides (for example, lanthanum and cerium) in the soils of the steppe zone of southern Russia and the associated environmental risks to the environment.

It is believed that the toxicity of lanthanide compounds to living organisms is insignificant, but they can have a chronic effect on the human body and lead to long-term adverse effects. At the same time, in recent years, data on the toxic effect of high doses of lanthanides on soil biota (a complex of various soil organisms) and plants have been published. Despite the emergence of analytical methods that allow us to reliably determine even very low concentrations of lanthanides in soils, this group of elements still remains poorly understood.

Of particular importance is the study of the behavior of potentially toxic elements such as heavy metals and lanthanides in the soils of the steppe zone, since the soils of the steppes are the main resource that determines the agricultural profile of the entire region.

According to the scientist, heavy metals are among the most dangerous substances for soils. They are not subject to biodegradation over time, however, they are able to change the shape of their compounds and exhibit carcinogenic, mutagenic and toxic properties in relation to living organisms.

During the project, for the first time among the most common soils in the region, the features of the content and distribution of forms of chromium, lead, lanthanum and cerium compounds in the soils of the south of Russia, depending on the level of their technogenic pollution, will be established.

According to Tatyana Bauer, collecting information on the content of lanthanides in various types of soils is of particular importance, since such data is not enough, especially for the territory of Russia.

Environmental issues, including soil pollution, are global environmental security challenges (Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 176 of 19.04.2017 "On the Strategy of Environmental Security of the Russian Federation for the period up to 2025"). The task of ensuring environmental safety requires the rapid development of new approaches to the regulation of the content of rare and scattered elements in soils.