Why do Kyivans suffocate?

«It’s hard to breathe», «Strange taste of air» – such complaints appeared on the Left Bank of Kyiv last two years. There is another question that pops up: «Where is it burning?» Fires in the capital, as well as in Ukraine as a whole – are not uncommon. But in 95% of cases, there were no significant fires near the neighborhoods from which the complaints were received, as evidenced by data from the State Emergency Service (SES) and monitoring of social networks, which receive information about unusual events instantly. What is happening in Kyiv then?

Active Citizens asked the Central Geophysical Observatory (CGO) for clarification. It has monitoring points for air quality in Kyiv and all regional centers (in particular, in Kharkiv – 10 points, Odessa – 8, Dnipro – 6, Zaporizhia – 5). More than 20 ingredients are sampled at these posts four times a day.

There are 16 such points in the capital. That they work is good. It is bad that part of the equipment is still Soviet-style, and two posts work on a part-time program. Once upon a time, the post at the Expocenter of Ukraine (VDNH) was liquidated, now only the building, over which the weather vane revolves, is left here. To restore the stationary post requires a lot of money, which is not in the non-profit organization CGO. Another one was not restored – in Podil. This was dismantled due to the construction of an entertainment center with a promise to move the equipment somewhere nearby, but the Kyiv authorities did not fulfill the promise.

Meteorological pavilion at VDNH. There used to be an air quality monitoring post here.

What do these devices show? Iryna Kolisnyk, Head of the Department of Environmental Pollution Information, told Active Citizens that no sharp fluctuations or sharp increases in air pollution were recorded in February-March.

At the same time, the existing levels of pollution, with which we have lived for many years in a row, do not give cause for optimism. According to the Air Pollution Index (API), the overall level of pollution in the city of Kyiv in February-March was characterized as high. The level of pollution differed throughout the city: at one post it was characterized as low, at three – as high, at ten – as high. At two API posts (this is a conditional indicator calculated according to a special formula, which takes into account the average concentration of pollutants, the average daily maximum allowable concentration of each of them and the hazard class) was not calculated because only one impurity was determined – the already mentioned VDNH and Podil. And especially high levels in the air of the capital found oxides of nitrogen and formaldehyde, their concentration often exceeds the maximum allowable three times.

Why, with almost equivalent levels of pollution, on some days we still somehow «digest» them, and on others – suffocate? The cause of suffocation – adverse weather conditions, the so-called inversion. This is when the surface air is colder than the upper atmosphere, as a result of which the vertical circulation slows down and almost stops. So often we are explained by «haze», «ghost», «smog» officials and some scientists.

But the weather version is half true. The main cause of smog, which regularly covers Kyiv, especially in warm and hot weather – thermal power plants, boilers and cars. And the inversion only pressed the emissions to the ground, did not allow them, as usual, to disperse, to disperse. And this despite the fact that compared to the early 1990s, the level of pollution in Kyiv has decreased: many harmful industries have stopped.

But we have another Trojan horse: cars. There are more than a million of them in the capital, and this number continues to grow. Soot and «Yevroblyakhy» (cars with foreign registration) have been added, which have either worn out or completely failed emission treatment systems.

And there are substances that are not yet determined, because there is no such possibility. For example, the level of contamination by fine (very small) particles. This requires techniques and newer devices. Fine particles, in particular, are formed in large quantities at Trypillya TPP and Darnytsya CHP from coal combustion. A separate article should be written about the impact of emissions and ash dumps of these stations on the residents and guests of the capital.

It is also not possible to detect benzopyrene (this substance, in particular, causes cancer). This was done before Russia’s attack on Ukraine. The air was passed through special filters. Then these filters were collected from all observation posts from all over the country and sent to a specially equipped laboratory in Donetsk with benzopyrene absorbed on them. It is unknown at this time whether there is any valuable equipment left in this laboratory.

Another reason for our ill health may be interaction, mutual strengthening of pollutants, or, as scientists say – their synergy. It is also worth putting on that cup of scales, where all sorts of nonsense against us, the effects of electromagnetic radiation, noise, stress, and so on.

«Analyzing the incidence of the population in Kyiv in recent years, it should be noted that the most numerous group of diseases were and remain respiratory diseases, mainly due to acute respiratory diseases». This is a phrase from the report «Morbidity and mortality of the population of Kyiv for 2012-2016» * (there is no more recent one, because the reports have been prepared for a long time), prepared by the Main Department of Statistics of the city. And further: «In the structure of morbidity of children aged 0-14 years in 2016, respiratory diseases predominated (70.4% of all diseases)».

Why are children so sick? Adults are simply taller than children. And pollution is concentrated in the surface layer of air, and therefore their impact on the baby, say doctors, is greater. In addition, children have weaker immunity.

Therefore, whoever decides to give Kyivites the opportunity to breathe freely (literally), will have to work with many authorities. The Ministry of Environment is responsible for air quality. For health – the Ministry of Health. The Central Geophysical Observatory, which is the main source of data on this topic, reports to the State Emergency Service (SES), which is part of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The activities of the State Consumer Service, where the Sanitary Epidemiological Station once joined, are directed and coordinated by the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food.

Appeal to local authorities, whose role is also growing in the process of decentralization? In 2018, the Kyiv authorities planned to spend approximately UAH 1.4 million from the budget of the environmental fund to determine where it is more necessary to install control posts. In this year, 2019, it was planned to insert new devices and upgrade existing ones at certain points. Our interlocutors from the Central Geophysical Observatory stressed that they had not heard anything about the implementation of this plan, and we have not yet called the management of the Department of Ecology and Natural Resources of the Kyiv City State Administration. But we will definitely ask Kyiv officials about the implementation of these plans by sending information requests. So far, one thing is clear: the KCSA (Kyiv City State Administration) has not developed any new regulations, because on their website – we see only long-standing laws, regulations and orders.

Оleg Listopad

*Morbidity of the population by classes of diseases

From the report «Morbidity and mortality of the population of Kyiv for 2012-2016»

(system of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine; the number of cases of diseases registered for the first time in life per 100 thousand population)