Assessment of the epidemiological health risk of foundry contamination of small town soils

Abstract

Introduction. The paper presents the results of the assessment of the risk to public health and the level of soil contamination with heavy metals and arsenic in a small town with a foundry. Materials and methods. The objects of the study are the morbidity of the population of the Melenkovsky district of the Vladimir region and the soil cover of the city of Melenki. The assessment of the probable risk of morbidity is based on the determination of epidemiological risk indicators, the obtained values of which were converted into values normalized by the marginal error of the background level (Δ). Soil samples were taken in the zone of industrial enterprises, highways, residential private sector, landscape, and recreational areas. The soil cover was examined by X-ray fluorescence method for the evaluationof the content of heavy metals and arsenic. Results. The study conducted to assess the probable risk allowed establishing in the Melenkovsky district, relative to the background regional values, children to have a very high risk for nine classes of diseases, adults to have a very high risk for 6 classes of diseases. There has been established the contamination of the soil of the city of Melenka with heavy metals and arsenic to be probably due to the specifics and duration of operation of the oldest enterprise in the city ‒ the foundry and mechanical plant. In the central part of the city, there have been identified local areas posing high health risks, which determines the need to manage permanent environmental and hygienic monitoring here. The greatest danger to public health is arsenic, whose concentrations in almost all sampling points exceed sanitary and hygienic standards. The limitations of the study are related to one-time sampling and a small number of reference sites, which limits the possibilities of a broader interpretation of the data obtained. Conclusion. It has been established that a city enterprise operating for a long time, due to soil contamination of the adjacent territory, can bear high risks to public health even during prolonged downtime or termination of its main activity. The chemical contamination of the soil in the territory adjacent to the foundry and mechanical plant, which is extremely dangerous in terms of the total indicator, requires special environmental measures to remove and further neutralize chemical elements. To reduce soil pollution in the city, there are required modernization of industrial enterprises and the creation of expanded sanitary protection zones around them.