Social and hygienic problems and mortality of the population after the liquidation of a city-forming enterprise for the production of chemically hazardous substances (on the example of Usolye-Sibirskoye, Irkutsk region)

Abstract

Introduction. In Usolye-Sibirskoye, after the liquidation of the town-forming enterprise "Usoliekhimprom", the socio-economic and demographic situation sharply worsened, and environmental problems accumulated since the 30s of the twentieth century aggravated. For the period 1990-2019, the city's population decreased by almost 30%. The study aims to conduct a comparative analysis of the mortality rate of the male and female population of Usolye-Sibirskoye, the Irkutsk Oblast and Russia and assess the contribution of a certain age and gender groups (children, working-age, and post-working age) to the formation of super-mortality in the population. Materials and methods. The study base was the primary data of the Federal State Statistics Service (Table C-51 "The number of deaths by sex, age and specific causes of death" and 2PN "Population by sex and age"). We calculated the age-specific for 5-year age groups and age-standardized mortality rates from all causes of death separately for the male and female population of Usolye-Sibirskoye, Irkutsk Oblast and Russia for ten years (2010-2019) and traced them dynamics. Standardization was carried out by a direct method (the standard is the population of Russia according to the 2010 census). Considering the small population of the city and the resulting fluctuations in the mortality rate in individual years, to obtain stable indicators, we summarized the data on mortality for ten years (2010-2019) and calculated the average coefficients. We performed similar calculations for the region and country. We also assessed the contribution of certain age and gender groups (children, working and post-working ages) to the formation of excess mortality. Results. During 2010-2019 among the male and female populations of Usolye-Sibirskoye, Irkutsk Oblast and Russia, there was a steady decrease in mortality, but in the city, higher rates and slower rates of their decline were recorded compared to the region and the country. As a result, at the end of the observation period, the gap between the city's mortality rate and the compared territories increased even more. The most significant demographic losses occurred in the working age, where the average mortality rate for men and women over ten years was 28 and 37%, respectively, higher than the regional and 1.8 and 2.2 times the national average. Conclusion. Thus, the main contribution to the excess mortality of the population of Usolye-Sibirskoye is made by men and women of working age (from 53.6% to 72.5% depending on the comparison area), which, on the one hand, maybe a consequence of the influence of harmful and dangerous working conditions. In combination with a polluted environment, on the other hand, it may be due to the termination of the operation of a city-forming enterprise and the inevitable increase in unemployment and socio-economic tension in these conditions.