Geoecological Condition and Requirements for Air Protection.
The atmosphere is one of the essential conditions for the emergence and existence of life on Earth.
The atmosphere - the air envelope of the Earth determines the overall thermal regime of its surface and protects against harmful cosmic rays. The air of the atmosphere is a mixture of gases in which liquid and solid particles are suspended.
For human life, air is the most important product of consumption. A person can survive without food for 5 weeks, without water for 8 days, and without air for 5 minutes. However, normal human activity requires not only the presence of air but also a certain level of its purity. Any deviation from the norm and, consequently, air pollution adversely affects human health.
Atmospheric air is classified as an inexhaustible resource.
Indeed, as a physical body, air is practically inexhaustible. However, changes in its composition in certain areas of the planet are so significant that qualitative depletion, as it were, "exhaustion" of this resource occurs. Therefore, in environmental protection practice, air is regarded as a resource that must be continuously cared for.
Air Pollution and Its Consequences.
Atmospheric pollution is understood as the presence in the air of gases, vapors, particles, solid and liquid substances, heat, and radiation that adversely affect humans, animals, plants, buildings, and structures. A pollutant can be any physical agent, chemical substance, or biological species (mainly microorganisms) that enters the environment or is formed in it in quantities exceeding natural levels.
By origin, pollutants are divided into natural, caused by natural, often abnormal processes in nature. This includes the influx of volcanic ash, cosmic dust, plant pollen, and sea salts. The most dangerous is anthropogenic pollution, as it occurs in the habitat of humans. Anthropogenic pollutants often do not have natural analogs.
Atmospheric pollutants are classified into mechanical, physical, and biological.
Mechanical pollutants include dust, phosphates, lead, mercury, and others. They are formed during the combustion of organic fuels and the production of building materials, which accounts for up to 90% of all pollutants.
Physical pollutants include thermal (the influx of heated gases into the atmosphere), light (deterioration of natural illumination of the area due to artificial light sources), and noise (as a result of anthropogenic noise). Noise is a combination of sounds of varying frequency and intensity. From a physiological point of view, noise is any unwanted sound that has a harmful effect on the human body.
Biological pollutants are mainly the result of the reproduction of microorganisms.
The problem of air pollution became prominent after the 20th century when humans significantly expanded the number of metals they used, began to produce synthetic fibers, plastics, and other substances that not only have properties unknown in nature but are also harmful to the organisms of the biosphere. These substances do not enter the natural cycle after their use. Moreover, waste from industrial activities increasingly pollutes the Earth's atmosphere.
One of the main sources of air pollution is industrial enterprises operating on solid and liquid fuels. Industry emits a large amount of solid unburned particles (soot, ash, dust) and harmful gases (carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides) and vapors into the atmosphere. Vapors and gases form mixtures with air, while solid and liquid particles create aerosol systems. Aerosols are defined as air or gas containing suspended solid or liquid particles. Aerosols are typically divided into dust, smoke, and fog.
According to experts, more than 60 tons of pollutants are emitted into the air of Bishkek daily. Harmful gases and dust accumulate over the city during winter, leading to the formation of smog. Smog (from the English smoke - smoke and fog - fog) disrupts the normal state of air in many cities and arises from the combination and reaction of dust-gas air pollution (carbon and nitrogen oxides) with adverse weather conditions - increased humidity (London-type smog) and severe frost (Alaskan-type smog). Severe smog causes suffocation, allergic reactions, and damage to vegetation, buildings, and structures. It is sad that the famous smog in London in 1952 caused over 4,000 people to become ill within just a few days.
Overall, the ecological condition of Bishkek requires special attention, as it ranks among the cities with the most unfavorable air pollution levels, particularly in terms of benz(a)pyrene content, being one of the five cities in the CIS with the highest pollution levels.
Monitoring the air quality in Bishkek is conducted based on nine components: dust, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide and dioxide, phenol, soluble sulfates, formaldehyde, and hydrogen cyanide.
Constant monitoring of air pollution in Bishkek is carried out by the Kyrgyz Republican Hydrometeorological Service. Systematic observations are conducted at stationary points located in different districts of the city along the busiest highways.
According to O. Ilminskaya (1997), the state of the air basin in Bishkek is deteriorating, despite the fact that most industrial enterprises are not operational. There is a direct correlation between atmospheric air pollution and human morbidity. Over the past 5-6 years, employees of the sanitary-epidemiological station have studied the structure of morbidity and mortality in various zones of Bishkek. Conventionally, the capital is divided into eastern (VPS) and western industrial zones (ZPS) and a clean residential area located south of Gorky Street, which includes several micro-districts. Over the last 5-6 years, the overall morbidity rate in the VPS has increased by 2.6 times, in the ZPS by 1.5 times. In the clean zone, this indicator has not changed, and the number of new formations has even slightly decreased.
In polluted areas, the dust content in the air has exceeded the maximum allowable concentration (MAC) by 10 times in certain months, carbon monoxide by up to 4 times, and nitrogen dioxide by 2.5 times. However, the pollution of air by benz(a)pyrene is particularly alarming. The central part of the capital is the most contaminated. Here, city highways are heavily congested with vehicles.
The highest concentration of mercury vapors in the air has been detected near the capital's chemical and pharmaceutical plant. It exceeded the MAC of this element, which is very dangerous for human health, by two times. According to selective gas-mercury surveys, increased mercury content in the air has also been found along streets with heavy vehicle traffic, such as L. Tolstoy, M. Gorky, Soviet, and Jibek-Jolu streets.
As practice shows, sources of atmospheric pollution include emissions from cement plants. For example, the Kant Cement and Asbestos Plant has been built on the territory of the Kyrgyz Machine Testing Station. According to specialists, the plant has 64 sources of atmospheric pollution with cement dust and suspended substances, hydrogen fluorides, silicon dioxides, manganese and nitrogen, carbon monoxide, and sulfur dioxide. The cloud of dirt rises so high and spreads so widely that it can be clearly seen with the naked eye even from Bishkek on a clear day. Under certain meteorological conditions, our Kant Cement and Asbestos Plant pollutes Kazakhstan. What about the treatment facilities? The various equipment at this enterprise has long become outdated, not only morally. The filters and other means of trapping harmful waste, which have been in place since 1964, are worn out to the limit. They are simply unable to hold back the flows of dirt.
For each enterprise, there are specific limits on emissions of harmful substances and waste into the environment. By law, every year for five years, natural resource users must gradually reduce emissions to established norms.
There was no doubt that the Kant Cement and Asbestos Plant exceeds the maximum allowable emissions (MAE). In 1997, the Kant plant emitted an excess of a thousand tons of cement dust into the atmosphere (Evening Bishkek, January 29, 1999, No. 19). Cement dust annually covers agricultural crops in adjacent fields over an area of more than 32,100 hectares, leading to a decrease in their yield.
It should be noted that for exceeding the limits on emissions of harmful substances into the environment, according to a decree from the President of the Republic, enterprises are fined four to five times the amount. Unfortunately, this decree has not yet been implemented in practice.
A significant amount of harmful substance emissions that pollute the atmosphere is released by the Bishkek Thermal Power Plant, which consumes coal. This occurs especially when the prevailing wind direction in winter is southeast. Low-calorie local coals produce a lot of waste in the form of ash and slag, which contain a significant amount of sulfur. The Bishkek Thermal Power Plant emits an average of 20-25 tons of ash and various carbon, nitrogen, sulfur oxides, and other chemical compounds into the atmosphere daily. Periodically, the emissions in the air of Bishkek are significantly higher than the established MAC and MAE norms. In particular, in February 1991, emissions were noted to exceed the MAC for carbon monoxide by 2 times and for nitrogen dioxide by 2.3 times. The average annual volume of ash and slag waste, according to specialists, is estimated at 300-350 thousand tons. The ash dumps of Bishkek Thermal Power Plant occupy 178 hectares of land. Occupying such an area, the ash and slag waste currently pose an ecological danger, especially to the soil, air, and groundwater.
The waste from the Thermal Power Plant can, in principle, find further application in the national economy. However, the problem of how to capture and utilize this waste must be solved; the effect of these measures is twofold - the substances do not pollute nature and are valuable raw materials for various sectors of the economy. The products of fuel combustion at the Thermal Power Plant - slag, water, ash, and other substances provide significant economic benefits when used in the national economy. Slag, when used in industry, saves cement and reduces energy needs for its production.
One of the main sources of atmospheric air pollution is transport. Currently, more than 75,000 vehicles are estimated to be moving on the roads of Bishkek. According to specialists, each thousand cars emits more than 3,000 kg of carbon monoxide and other harmful substances into the air daily. Calculations show that a passenger car emits 60 m³ of exhaust gases into the atmosphere for one hour of engine operation, while a freight vehicle emits 120 m³. The exhaust gases of a single vehicle contain more than 170 harmful components. These include carbon and nitrogen oxides, various hydrocarbons, including carcinogenic substances, benz(a)pyrene, aldehydes, and sulfur dioxide. Gasoline engines also emit lead, chlorine, bromine compounds, while diesel engines produce significant amounts of soot and smoke. Most of these are hazardous to human health.
As the number of vehicles in Bishkek continues to grow, serious attention is being paid to improving engines and the quality of fuel used. The city already has several thousand passenger cars that run on compressed or liquefied gas (propane and butane). The carbon monoxide emissions from the exhaust of such vehicles are nearly three times lower compared to conventional ones.
Overall, the increase in the number of vehicles in the capital and the lack of control over their technical condition is the biggest problem for the protection of the city's air basin. Recently, due to privatization and decentralization of transport management, the control of technical condition and diagnostics has become extremely complicated. The responsibility for monitoring the technical condition of transport has been assigned to the State Automobile Inspectorate (GAI).
In recent years, there has been a sharp increase in the number of operating and under-construction fuel stations, with the sale of gasoline from various types of mobile gas stations and about 35 fuel dispensing points. This activity is often carried out in violation of environmental legislation. Gas stations are located in green areas, near residential areas, and in water protection zones of rivers and canals, without the necessary systems for treating stormwater runoff from rivers and canals, and without adequate protection for groundwater. Such spontaneous placement of gas stations leads to a significant deterioration of the ecological situation. Several resolutions adopted by the Bishkek city self-government and regional authorities aimed at regulating and limiting the construction of gas stations have led to nothing; the construction of gas stations continues.
In recent years, significant measures have been taken in Bishkek to improve communal living conditions, particularly underground lines for household electricity, communication facilities, street cleaning, etc. However, trenches for laying pipes and cables are often dug up repeatedly in the same place. As a result, the dust raised from the digging pollutes the atmosphere and reduces illumination. Such facts are very undesirable from a sanitary and hygienic point of view.
Recently, car washes have been organized on some streets that are not equipped for washing cars. How many have sprouted in the city is known not only to car owners but also to pedestrians on Toktogul, Kirov, Kalinin, Turusbekov, Togolok-Moddo streets, and others. They have become a symbol of "washing" service. But this problem has two sides. On one hand, people need to exist and feed their families. On the other hand, everyone earning must pay taxes to the treasury. However, this type of business cannot help but harm the city. These "car washes" with hoses from tap water are set up on lawns or open areas, while not adhering to elementary rules that ensure the protection of the surrounding environment. After such "washing," the water, flowing off the cars, covers the ground with a continuous puddle, literally "watering" it with black liquid dirt and polluting not only the water supply pipeline. Part of this water seeps into the ground, and the groundwater is again used in the economy. What are the consequences of this pollution?
Spontaneous washers rob part of the city's drinking water. Toktogul Street is a pioneer in this regard. In other areas of the city, the earning washers have already gotten used to street washing, receiving "live" cash for their work.
Such "car washes" on city streets and lawns are completely unacceptable. Clean air and clean water in the city are very important and necessary for all residents. Every resident must fight for this, adhere to cleanliness rules, and maintain sanitary and hygienic standards.