The total content and content of mobile forms of potential soil pollutants (Cd, Pb, Zn, Cu, Sr, F, S) are determined in the topsoil in the impact zone of a cement plant and phosphorus fertilizer factory. The total concentration of Cd (4.0 mg/kg), Pb (99.4 mg/kg), F (15.2 mg/kg), and S (479.6 mg/kg) is found to exceed the established maximum permissible concentrations (MPC, APC). The local concentration maximum of the major pollutants is observed at a distance of 0.5 and 1.0 km away from a phosphogypsum stack. Comparing sampling plots equidistant from the pollution source reveals that alluvial soils have accumulated 1.5–2 times more total forms of Cd, Pb, Zn, Cu, S than agrosod podzolic soils.

The carbon content in the microbial biomass and the microbial production of CO 2 (the biological component of soil respiration) were determined in the upper layer (0–10 cm) of soils in the impact zone of the OJSC Voskresensk Mineral Fertilizers, one of the largest factories manufacturing mineral fertilizers in Russia. Statistical characteristics and schematic distribution of the biological parameters in the soil cover of the impact zone were analyzed. The degree of disturbance of microbial communities in the studied objects varied from weak to medium. The maximum value (0.44) was observed on the sampling plot 4 km away from the factory and 0.5 km away from the place of waste (phosphogypsum) storage. Significantly lower carbon content in the microbial biomass and its specific respiration were recorded in the agrosoddy-podzolic soil as compared with the alluvial soil sampled at the same distance from the plant. The effects of potential soil pollutants (fluorine, sulfur, cadmium, and stable strontium) on the characteristics of soil microbial communities were described with reliable regression equations.