Assessment of Risks to the Health of the Population From Air Borne Contaminants in Certain Areas of Moscow (Based on the Findings of on-Going Socio-Hygienic Monitoring)

Abstract

There was executed the assessment of carcinogen and non-carcinogen risks for population health in some areas of the western, south-western and south-eastern administrative districts of Moscow under the exposure to air borne contaminants whose levels are kept track by various government agencies as part of the socio-hygienic monitoring. The value of chronic non-carcinogenic risks to the health of the population as measured according to the danger index for the combined impact of average annual concentrations of leading air borne contaminants with unidirectional impacts are at near alarming or high level depending on the location of monitoring outposts while for on-off short term exposure to maximum concentrations the impacts are at alarming or acceptable level. The highest danger indices were detected at outposts located near major motorways and industrial facilities. According to monitoring data collected by all agencies the air borne contaminants pose the highest risk to the respiratory organs due to exposure to formaldehyde, air-borne particles and nitrogen dioxide. The extra deaths resulting from chronic exposure to РМ10, estimated by the Moscow Environmental Monitoring make up about 1% of the total mortality rate without bearing in mind of external causes for the population residing in the western, south western and south eastern administrative districts. The total individual carcinogenic risks resulting from the exposure to average annual concentration of a number of carcinogens was found to be between the acceptable and alarming levels. The leading compound contributing to the increased carcinogenic risk is formaldehyde.

Health-related quality of life assessment when implementing ecology programs

“…Developed and tested a multidimensional generic questionnaire study of health-related quality of life, consisting of 15 scales [10] used for comparative analysis of the severity of the main types of functioning (social-hygienic, physical, social adaptation, recreational activities, emotional state) of urban residents. The assessment of health and specific environmentally related clinical and functional abnormalities affecting the client satisfaction with the health-related quality of life in their respective habitat conditions [8,11,22]. The performed integrated ecologicalhygienic and medico-social analysis using risk assessment methodology provided for classification of the urban residents (factor analysis) by risk groups (well-being, relative and absolute risk).…”

“…Modern risk-oriented methodology of the feasibility of distribution of population by groups, objects and territories of risk [8,9,17]. Need to be methodical and scientific explanation of complex medico-social, hygiene and ecological regional studies with the use of integrated quantitative and qualitative indicators of health and health-related quality of life of the population of administrative territories with high anthropogenic load, which can serve as criteria of effectiveness of implementation of regional environmental programs [1,14,16,21].…”

Developing the methodology for health risk assessment within public management of sanitary-epidemiological welfare of the population

“…Andreeva, A.V. Ivanenko with colleagues [26,27], several vital managerial actions were taken in Moscow due to the improved system of social-hygienic monitoring and constant and systemic communications with decision-makers about results obtained by assessing health risks for people living in a megacity and exposed to harmful environmental factors. These actions resulted in positive medical and demographic trends, obvious stabilization or even a decrease in population incidence authentically associated with exposure to harmful environmental factors and a decline in frequency of severe diseases (perinatal pathology and congenital malformations, etc.).…”