CORRELATION AMONG HEAVY-METALS AND FLUORIDE IN SOIL, AIR AND PLANTS IN RELATION TO ENVIRONMENTAL-DAMAGE

The investigations were conducted at 46 sites in the South-East part o f the Ukraine that had different levels of industrial pollution. Conce ntrations of fluoride and 16 other macro- and microelements were deter mined in plants (leaves and seeds) and soils to determine if there wer e any quantitative relationships between levels of these elements and abnormal plant development. Damage criteria such as the frequency of c hromosome aberrations in root tips of Robinia pseudoacacia (L) seeds, determination of germination percentage, peroxidase activity of leaves and soils and quantity of microfauna were studied. It was found that among the environmental pollutants, fluoride was most damaging.