Levels of the atmospheric air pollution

Specific gravity of air samples overcoming the maximum permissible concentrations.

regions	total		Contents included
			Dust		Sulfureous gas		Carbon dioxide		Nitric oxides
	1999	2000	1999	2000	1999	2000	1999	2000	1999	2000
City of Minsk	6,2	6,6	0 from 1688	0 from 1440	0 from1752	0 from1944	18,9	18,8	3,9	3,3
Brest	4,8	2,7	8,6	5,6	2,1	0 from 628	-	-	0,8	0,3
Vitebsk	2,7	1,9	0 from 16	0 from 26	4,9	4,8	0 from 46	0 from 6	0 from 442	0 from 482
Gomel	1,2	0,4	0,8	2,1	0,1	0,4	0,9	0 from 2346	0 from 3538	0,1
Grodno	0,5	0,9	-	2,3	0 from 66	0 from 130	0 from 30	0 from 46	0 from 148	0 from 162
Minsk	3,3	1,3	26,2	16,6	1,1	0 from 692	0 from 69	4,1	0 from 1009	0,2
Mogilev	5,5	3,9	5,0	4,1	0 from 1540	0 from 1173	0,3	0 from1142	4,8	4,3
RB	3,7	2,6	3,5	2,9	0,5	0,3	3,5	3,2	1,8	1,3

For the forecasting period , the atmospheric air protection policy will be aimed to stabilize and then to reduce harmful emissions both from stationary and mobile sources by means of preventing the formation of dangerous constituents due to wasteless and low-waste technological processes, the improvement of fuel structure and the structure of fuel consumption . Transport transfer to compressed and liquified gas and other alternative types of fuels, the introduction of catalytic neutralizers installed on motor vehicles as well as catching and utilization of pollutants will also work for the goal.

Analysis and evaluation of trends in the ecologo-economic processes has been made on a basis of prognosis for the harmful constituents emission into the atmosphere , along with the growth of a gross product, changes in the field structure of economy and the structure of the fuel- energy balance. Social goals and parameters reducing antropogenous loads on the environment , the advance in science and technology. According to statistics , the increase of volumes of harmful constituents emitted into the air from stationary sources will make 35-40%, and from mobile ones – 6-12%.

Monitoring of the Environment

To control environmental changes the ecological monitoring is needed.

Ecological monitoring is understood as a system of observations, evaluation, assessment and prognosis of the surrounding environmental status.

Ecological monitoring is based on three independent elements: monitoring of the natural environment, monitoring of artificial or modified environment and monitoring of the anthroposphere.

The object of the first monitoring are abiotic components of the environment (lithosphere, hydrosphere, pedosphere, atmosphere). Monitoring of anthropogenic changes gives the evaluation and prognosis for the status of modified and artificial environment. Monitoring of the anthroposphere is carried out by methods of demographic and sanitary- hygienic monitorings.

On the whole , monitoring aims to reveal and observe sources of anthropogenic factors influencing environment. First of all it controls biological systems with the target to develop decisions to regulate the quality of these systems.

There are four distinguished groups of anthropogenic factors.

1. Body- factors. They include modified relief, waterpools, canals,soils, buildings, introduced plant and animal species etc. Many of these factors exist long. For example, Scythian burial mounds, Pharoah pyramids etc.. As a rule, body-factors are not movable. Introduced animals make an exception , as well as plants which spread their seeds by winds, insects and birds, enlargening in this way their areal .

2. Substance-factors . These anthropogenic factors are not limited by space, the degree of concentration and influence upon the environment. They include aerosol, chemical elements and substances, radioactive compounds, water premixes, industrial sewage, industrial emissions etc. Some of these factors are disintegrated quickly, others are stored in nature by hungreds and thousands years. Consequently, they can accumulate in soil and living organisms.

3. Process-factors. They are very diversified. First of all they include human activity of various kinds, spontaneous and regular transportation of plants and animals, introduction, animal breeding, plant selection, exploitation of natural sources, corrosion of metals, plowing of soils, various kinds of soil errosion,changes in water levels, anthropogenic elements and substances etc. Process- factors are very dynamic.

4. Phenomenon- factors. This group includes light, heat, radiowaves, electric currents, preasure, water and atmospheric pollution, noise, vibration. Their action is space limited, the longer is the distance from their source, the weaker their effect.These factors negatively influence not only processes in nature, but also living organisms, including human beings.

Heavy noise, for example, results in ill- health in humans, causes sleep disorders, failure in important physiological processes. It reduces cattle performance and egg production in poultry etc. Statistisc from some countries shows that growth of the noise intensity is responsible for 15-20% decrease in labour productivity in cities.

One should remember that anthropogenic factors are not isolated, and they act in the form of a certain complex, producing a synergetic effect. The most effective measures are necessary to be taken against these unfavourable factors, for their cumulative effect is difficult to predict.

Monitoring is carried out both at local and at a global level, with critical factors of influence, critical zones being defined as well as elements of biosphere which experience maximal effect of these factors.

The global monitoring system evaluates a background status of the biosphere. While studying the background monitoring abiotic and biotic parts of the biosphere are considered separately. There exist regional and basic stations of monitoring system. Regional stations investigate anthropogenic factors, their sources and the influence upon environment. Basic stations receive global information on the environmental status.

Every nation should perform national monitoring. Its task is to obtain information on environmental pollution to be used in the protection interest of the nation.

The initial ( first) stage of monitoring – bioecological monitoring, i.e. observations of the invironment in relation with human health. Data provided by sanitary-epidemological and veterinary service,quarantine service, plant protection and hydrobiologic conlrol should be used for this purpose.

The main indicators of environmental pollution are radionuclides; СО₂, СО, NO, NO₂ etc.; mineral pollutants, compounds of mercury, lead, arsenic, phosphorus, cadmium, fluorine , nitrates, nitrites etc.; organic and polymeric pollutants: pesticides,detergents, hydrocarbons,germs. The intensity of noise and different radiations.

Urbanization and the development of chemical industry gave the intensive raise to polyaromatic hydrocarbons, nitrocompounds, cyclic amins, metatoxins, pesticides etc., posessing carcinogenic properties. That’s why attention should be paid to monitoring of carcinogenic substances, which is to contribute to lowering of their concentrations. This is crucial for industrial areas.

Growth of the amount of anthropogenic factors and their cynergetic effect contributes to growth of mutations. Thus it’s essential to register artificial mutagens.

Chemical and radioactive substances can appear lke this first of all. But biological factors also can be mutagens due to a complex of mutagenic factors. A number of mutagens constantly grows, many chemical substances posess potencial mutagenity being extremely dangerous for the human genetic fund as well as animal, vegetal and bacterial population .

In the nearest future the global genetic monitoring of a human will be created , which is to be completed by monitoring of animal genetic fund.

The second stage of enviromental monitoring is a geoecolocical, a geosystemic and economico-natural monitoring. This includes observation of changes in main geosystems and their conversion in nature- technical systems (agrosystems, urban environment, environment of industrial areas. The geosyctemic monitoring completes and enlargens the bioecological one , investigating natural resources of the environment and their changes. Biological monitoring is based on observation the parameters of the environment on a number of control sites and is of a local character. Geosystemic monitoring uses data obtained not only by biological monitoring but also a system of special test- areas and is of a local character. These test- areas are commonly called natural ( geoecological) test polygons where geosystemic tests are envolved: (highest permissible concentrations). Each natural zone is recommended to have one polygon.

The third stage (a block) of environmental monitoring is the biospheric monitoring. It includes observation, control and prognosis of changes in a global aspect. In other words, biospheric monitoring supplements a biogeoecological one and completes the whole system of biospheric observations.

The main parameters for observation are changes, their evaluation and causes.

Monitoring of cosmic energy fluctuations comes first, the stability of its surge and its expanded accumulation is the main condition of the ecosystem stability. Tracing of the ozone screen is necessary, dust capturing in the atmosphere as well as its gas composition and the influence of human economic activity on the energy of the atmosphere. It is important to study the photosynthetic activity of plants and its changes under thr influence of technogenesis, the world water balance and its prognosis. Surveillance of global circulation and migration of principal chemial elements is included in the biospheric monitoring, soils beeing an object of investigations as essential neutralizator of both natural and artificial pollutants. Like a screen it holds on nutrients preventing their entry into water sources.

Monitoring of the ecological background in the Republic of Belarus is carried out in biospheric rerservations. In biospheric and other reservations an abiotic subprogram (geophysical monitoring) and biotic subprograms (biological monitoring) take place.

Biological monitoring includes monitoring of four types: biota pollution, biosphera productivity; missing and threatened species of animals and plants ; the most important species, populations, communities and ecosystems. In the process of biomonitoring it is highly important to select organisms – monitors- with high occurence, diversified, posessing high homeostatic stability, capable to accumulate this or that pollutants and to keep relatively high viability and genetic stability. Hence, only individuals or populations with well studied biological representativity should be used as such organisms-monitors.

The UN Environmental Secretariat defined the ecological monitoring as a system of repeated observing for the environmental elements in time and space, posessing certain objectives in accordance with programs developed in advance.

The objects for monitoring may be natural, anthropogenic or nature-anthropogenic ecosystems. Objective of the monitoring is not only passive. A goal of monitoring is not only passive facts establishing but also undertaking of experiments, modelling of process making the basis for prognosis. Organization of monitoring should solve both local tasks of observing the status of certain ecosystems or their fragments (e.g. biota - a unity of living organisms) and planetary tasks, i.e. to provide a system of global monitoring (SGM). Cosmic and computer technologies are considered to make a basis for the SGM. Artificial satellites, both piloted and not, are known to successfully carry out observations (control) of the Earth biosphere status. This allows to obtain the information which is difficult or impossible to acquire from the Earth surface.. Local tasks of monitoring may include, for instance, watching and tracing the dynamics of harmful organisms populations, insects on large territories, in particular ( e.g. within the whole areal of a species), to follow migration of populations for species under consideration). Monitoring enables to predict possible damage for forest and field plants from pests and diseases as well as the time of such a damage. Data provided by the sites of observation should be properly processed by computers.

Thus, ecological monitoring should include links of different level, namely:

1. global ( biospheric) monitoring, undertaken on the basis of international cooperation;

2. a national monitoring, organized by specially developed national bodies;

3) a regional monitoring, acting within certain large regions intensively explored by national economy. For example, withi geosystems of territory-production complexes;

4. local (bioecological) monitoring, considering changes in the quality od environment within rsidential areas, industrial centers, exactly on industrial enterprizes.

Along with methods assessing the air pollution by means of devices, the methods of biological indication are used, which are based on surveillance of certain living things (test –objects) specially sensitive to definite chemical premixes. At present, the method of lichenoindication has become the most common. This method is based on the count of lichens in urban plantings, in the areas of large industrial enterprizes. A definite correlation has been found between occurence of lichens on tree trunks and “ the air polluted fields” in cities. Another example of a test- object in forest eco-systems makes a bark beetle. They intensively occupy irreversively weakened dying trees, but if a tree dies from the air pollution, bark beetles do not get wide spread. That is why the fact of plantings died off in the absence of bark beetles can serve an indicator of the air pollution with industrially produced substances. The activity of industrial-sanitary laboratories of industrial enterprizes can be attributed to local monitoring. Tasks of such laboratories include, in particular, constant surveillance of the air and water quality in industrial sites, shops and water objects..

To perform measures on global and national monitoring, i.e. to obtain information on quality changes in the environment which take place at the biospheric level, a special service should be organized. As the basis for such monitoring a long termed territorial complexes with a minimal or zero preceeding anthropogenic effect can serve. In other words, it is necessary to have places where a certain background level of environmental quality could be preserved, compared to which a degree of human influence upon biosphera could be defined.

For this purpose it was suggested to create a system of so called biospheric stations. A net of such stations should make a part of national monitoring, i.e. a service for the natural environment observing and controlling on a certain territory.

A task for biospheric reservations include continuous surveillance and definition of background parameters of current status of biosphere as well as their relation to impacts of anthropogenic origin. Besides, in such reservations it is necessary to carry out regular and periodic target observations of ecosystems in order to develop scientifically ground parameters to control the status of the environment in them. The territory of a reservation should be zonal, i.e. it should have a central zone, at the distance of 50-100 km from the source of influence,with a strong regime of security: a buffering zone, within the boundary of which experiments take place, where the pilot economic measures are performed; and a demonstrative zone , where visitors might have an access .

It is obviously clear that each of these reservations by the level of its equipment and the level of researches run there should actually be a large research institution. One should bear in mind that creation of such an institution in itself causes a certain impact on the environment, being connected with problems of energy provision, communications, living requirements etc .

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Legislative Protection of the Atmospheric Air.

The necessity of the atmospheric air protection is underlined in the “Law of the Environmental Security”.

Environmental sanitation of free air is seen in organic combination with other aspects of nature conservation. The law defines standards for the quality of the environment, among which we can find the highly permissible levels of concentrations for harmful substances, ones for the emission into the atmosphere, as well as norms for radiation, noise, vibration etc.

The government of the Belarus Republic annually issues decrees, directed to perform measures regulating the emission of pollutants into the atmosphere. Criminal, administrative or other kinds of responsibility according to the legislation of Belarus is put on persons guilty in breaking the norms for levels of pollutant emission into the atmosphere; norms for harmful physical impact on the air; breaking the rules of exploitation or failure to use purifying constructions, equipment, devices; opening for exploitation of new and reconstructed enterprizes, constructions and other objects failing to meet the standards of the air protection; production and use of automobiles, aircrafts, ships and other transport means emitting pollutants above the standard levels. Technologies, inventions and new technological systems, substances and materials are prohibited for the use and purchase if they do not meet the requirements for the air protection or not equipped with the air quality control and the exhaust control systems. Regulations consern rules for storage, transportation and use of plant stimulators, mineral fertilizers and other preparations enfluencing the quality of the air. It is underlined that regulations imposed by special state organs responsible for the atmospheric air protection should be strictly obeyed. This decree is still working with certain amendments.

The Civil Code concerning administrative violations states the administrative responsibility for breaking laws on the atmospheric air protection.

The Republic Belarus Law “On Protection of Natural Environment” brings in measures for prevention and elimination of intensive industrial noise, vibrations, the effect of magnetic fields and other harmful physical factors negatively influencing natural environment in the areas of manufacturing, industrial, residential, recreational human activities, in the areas of heavy concentration and reproduction of wild animals and birds. Highly permissible levels for noise, vibrations, magnetic fields and other harmful physical substances are stated. Breaching these norms may be followed by a halt or a full stoppage of an enterprize, transport means or other sources.