Comprehensive Assessment of the State of the Environment of the Industrial City

Abstract

The aim of the study was a comprehensive analysis of the state of the environment in the industrialized city of Voronezh to justify measures to protect the environment and prevent the morbidity of the population. Material and methods. The study uses materials from the regional information fund for social and hygienic monitoring, which is implemented on the basis of the Federal State Health Care Institution “Center for Hygiene and Epidemiology in the Voronezh Region” under the “Environment” section for the last 5 years. The methods of the comprehensive assessment of anthropogenic load on the environment and methods for assessing the health risks of the population due to environmental factors are applied. Results. The anthropogenic load on the environment has been established to be significantly higher in the territories with the predominant negative influence of the industrial sector (Coefficient of complex anthropogenic load (CL = 13.29)) and motor traffic loads (CL = 14.65) relative to the relatively prosperous territory (CL = 7.97). Among the analyzed factors (air pollution, drinking water quality, soil contamination in the residential area, road noise), the leading contribution of the aerotechnogenic factor to the formation of the level of anthropogenic load in the urban area (58.1-58.5%) was determined on the basis of a comprehensive hygienic assessment. An assessment of the health risks of the population showed the priority of the adverse impact of air pollution and road noise on the city residents. According to the degree of carcinogenic danger, the most unfavorable situation is observed in the industrial area near the aircraft plant and the plant for the production of synthetic rubber, where high levels of total individual carcinogenic risk (chrome+6, soot, acrolein, formaldehyde), more than 1∙10-4, less than 1∙10-3, which is classified as a hazardous risk. The unacceptable level of non-carcinogenic risk (HQ>1) in the industrial area is exceeded by 4 out of 14 controlled substances: acrolein, nitric oxide, copper oxide, chromium+6. When assessing the unidirectional effects of substances, an unacceptable level of non-carcinogenic risk (HI>1) was found to be characteristic for the development of the pathology if respiratory, cardiovascular, hemopoietic (blood) and endocrine system. The risk of disrupting the health of the urban population at existing levels of noise from road transport exceeds acceptable values. The highest risk indices for health from the effects of transport noise are characteristic for diseases of the cardiovascular system. As the age (probable duration of the exposure time) increases from 10 to 35 years, the risk level is estimated as average (the risk ranges from 0.051 to 0.342 units), from 40 to 45 years - as high (from 0.352 to 0.591), from 50 to 70 years - as extreme (from 0.607 to 1). The identified problems must be solved in the context of the overall development of the city.

Technogenic geochemical abnormalities in the soils and bottom sediments of Voronezh

“…In the soils adjacent to traffic intersections and highways, a slight direct correlation was found between the pHsalt indicators and the concentration of oil products (r = +0,41). Studies carried out earlier for the city territory [14,16,17,5,9] have revealed stable correlations in the "source of pollution -soil" system.…”

Methodical aspects in assessing risks of comorbid pathology occurrence under exposure to chemical environmental factors

“…Contemporary changes in the living environment and negative trends detected in morbidity among population in the Russian Federation require comprehensive research on factors that influence human health; it is especially vital for industrially developed regions [1][2][3][4]. According to data obtained via clinical and epidemiological examinations performed on territories where ecological situa-tion is rather adverse, prevalence of morbidity with respiratory diseases, diseases of the cardiovascular and nervous system, gastric and endocrine diseases is 1.2-2.6 times higher than on reference territories and functional deviations in critical organs or systems are 1.2-1.4 times more frequent.…”