by Prof. B. Kurlyandsky

The problem of chemically stable organic substances as it actually stands in Russia is different from what is observed in other European countries or the United States.

Data relating to air pollution indicate that the largest share of the population is affected by suspended articles (15 million). That exposure group is closely followed, in terms of size, by those in contact with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (benzopyrene) (14 million), and people exposed to phenol constitute the third-largest group (13 million). A considerable number of people (from 3 to 4 million) live in areas with increased contents of nitrogen dioxide, hydrogen fluoride, carbon disulfide, carbon oxide, ammonium and styrene in the air.

Many people are exposed to increased concentrations of benzene, nitrogen oxide, hydrogen sulfide and methyl mercaptan.

Pollution with heavy metals and asbestos is restricted to localities around their production and processing sites. Lead contamination has a sharply different profile as it is a ubiquitous pollutant: leaded antiknock substances are used in automobiles nationwide, while leaded gasoline accounts for 82% of internal combustion engine fuels. No solution to the problem appears visible in the foreseeable future.

Here are some additional data on some of the top-rated pollutants. Benzopyrene content is monitored in 170 Russian cities. It would be unfair not to mention that the Soviet Union was the first nation in the world to raise the problem to the high level it did. It was also the first nation to develop the MPC levels of the pollutant for all mediums. This is a good occasion to mention the outstanding merit of the late Academician L. M. Shabada in guidance over the ideology and practice of activities to deal with the problem. The highest levels of atmospheric air pollution with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) are found in cities where the world's largest aluminum and steel plants are located: Shelekhov, Novokuznetsk, Bratsk, Magnitogorsk, Nizhny, Tagil, Krasnoyarsk, Chelyabinsk and some others, where the PAH content in the air amounts to 5 - 15 ng/mg2. It is also true that metallurgy is not the only source of benzopyrene (BP) contamination of air as there is a great number of small coal-powered boiler houses which create a stable seasonal pollution at a rather high level of >3 ng/m3.

There is a similar situation with phenol whose content in air is high enough. The MPC of phenol is most frequently exceeded in cities associated with the metallurgical, chemical and petrochemical industries. The list of big cities where air is contaminated with phenol is very long. Unfortunately we do not have regularly monitored data about phenol in drinking water, but isolated studies found phenol and chlorophenol concentrations in water ranging from 1 to 5 mkg/l.

Lead, again, is among the worst pollutants; its production in Russia is close to 50.000 tons annually. Despite a considerably smaller amount of lead emission due to a general decline in industrial output, its discharge into air remains rather high. Two cities may be cited as examples: Revda with 400-450 tons per year and Kirovograd with 128-206 tons per year.

Ethylated gasoline deserves another mention here. Whereas an average 7.000 to 8.000 tons of lead is discharged into air in Russian settlements and urban areas, 5.000 to 5.500 tons out of that amount is accounted for by the automobile transport. It must be emphasized that the situation with automobiles is worsening continually due to the poor quality of domestically produced cars and an uninterrupted inflow of second-hand foreign-made cars that continue to be exploited until completely unusable.

Should it be of interest to the participants in the conference, I can characterize the situation with practically all the major pollutants. Now may I go over to issues associated with the UNDP-recommended list of the 12 most dangerous commonly found contaminants.

Because great attention was paid to the study of toxic properties of pesticides in the former USSR, and VNIIGINTOKS Institute (Kiev) was involved in that study with an emphasis on pro-active steps to avoid dangerous effects, the institute did much to investigate the toxicity of chemicals produced as the result of diene synthesis. That explains why such agents as aldrin, dieldrin, endrin, chlordan, heptachlor and some others were first restricted and then, rather quickly, prohibited. As regards toxaphene (polychlorokelyphene), its use was permitted to fight the gray weevil in sugar-beet fields and to protect perennial grasses grown for seeds, and amounted to 2.000 tons annually. That pesticide has not been purchased since 1986. Myrex has never been manufactured nor purchased, according to our data. As of now, manufacture and use of 78 pesticides is prohibited.

As far as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBP) are concerned, the most commonly cited example in Russia is a study of Serpukhov, where a condenser plant is situated. The PCBP content in the soil of that area exceeds the MPC level 33 times. The milk of feeding mothers who live in the vicinity of the plant contains between 1093 and 2392 mkg/l of PCBP. Daily consumption of PCBP with breast milk by babies exceeds the limit almost 500 times. In ground waters, however, PCBP content does not exceed the MPC.

The situation with polychlorbenzodioxines is complicated by the absence of ongoing monitoring and, as the result, of objective information about the dioxin danger. Hopefully things will change after the State Duma adopts the "Dioxin Program".

Some information is available about the areas of Chapayevsk, Dzerzhinsk and Ufa, where annual dioxin emissions were 740 g, 480 g and 900 g respectively, according to 1995 data.

Dioxin content in air was within 15-20 pg/m3. It is also tme that today dioxin content in air does not exceed the limit because of industrial stagnation.

There are also data available with regard to Sterlitamak, where PCDD and PCDF content in women's milk was 48.1 ug/l, which is very high. The PCBP and PCDBD contamination picture is very typical of industrialized areas such as Dzerzhinsk or Bashkortostan and of application areas such as the Moscow Region where some 17 dioxin generating facilities are concentrated.

An estimated 12.000 tons of synthetic transformer oil is still in use today.

The area of the city of Chapayevsk is characterized by the following figures. The accumulated amount of PCDBD in the soil over an area of 50-70 km2 constitutes a total pollutant mass of 300-670 g.

Bottom sediments in the river Chapayevka contain between 2 and 36 ug per ton. The total accumulated PCDBD amount is nearly 2 g. In melted snow, total PCDBD content is 0.07-0.015 g, or 1/2500 of its content in the soil.

Investigations conducted in 1996 showed that in the Komi Republic the main sources of environmental pollution with toxic dioxin-like agents are entities of the wood chemical complex, including above all the Syktyvkar Timber Complex (STC), the largest in Europe. The content of dioxin-series compounds in silt samples of the river Vychegda, taken down the stream below the point of STC waste water discharge, exceeds the background level 8.3 times (and in slimes, 1150 times). The high dioxin contamination of the Vychegda is also evidenced by the fact that even 300 km away from the STC waste water discharge point the concentration of dioxin compounds in the river-bed silt is only 33% less.

Expert assessment of the dioxin danger in Highland Altai has shown that formation of BCDBD and PCDBF was due to phenol and its derivatives (cresol, thymol and guaiacol) as well as various chlorine-containing pesticides and herbicides.

The data described above suggest the following principal areas of action to prevent the unfavorable impact of PCDBD and PCDBF on human health and on nature:

1. Taking a detailed inventory of all potential sources of contamination.

5. Activities to implement international conventions.