Highlights
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- Pollution in 8 former Soviet countries poses a health risk to 6.2 million residents.
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- The most commonly found key pollutants are pesticides, lead, arsenic, and cadmium.
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- The majority of sites can be traced to Soviet legacy pollution.
Abstract
Using
a global database of contaminated sites, toxic hotspots in eight former
Soviet countries were analyzed to identify the prevalence, types and
sources of toxic pollution, as well as their associated potential public
health impacts. For this analysis, polluted sites in Armenia,
Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Ukraine, and
Uzbekistan were compiled and analyzed. The levels of contamination of
seven key pollutants were assessed in each country. 424 contaminated
sites were identified using data from Blacksmith Institute. Pesticides,
lead (Pb), radioactive metals, arsenic (As), mercury (Hg), chromium
(Cr), and cadmium (Cd) were the most commonly identified key pollutants.
Collectively, these sites pose health risks to an estimated 6.2 million
residents. The existing data on toxic hotspots in former Soviet
countries likely captures only a small percentage of actual contaminated
sites, but suggests potentially severe public health consequences.
Additional assessments are needed to understand the risks posed by toxic
pollution in the region.
Keywords
- Pollution;
- Health;
- Environment;
- Assessment;
- Toxics;
- Post-Soviet
Abbreviations
- TSIP, Toxic Sites Identification Program;
- ISS, Initial Site Screening;
- RSL, Regional Screening Level
Copyright © 2016 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
