The Town of the XXI Century
Series of reports on ecological situation in Central Asia

THE LADY'S FACE OF THE PLANET

The exotic word - ecology

About fifteen years ago the word "ecology" was as exotic as a bird from far away lands. In the Republics of the former Soviet Union it was learnt when the number of forests has significantly decreased, the same as the amount of fish in the rivers, and people started to suffocate in large industrial cities covered with grey smogs.

Until that time the country was proud of its industrial giants: metallurgical plants, productive power plants, coal and ore mines. Soviet painters produced large pictures with dirty steaming plant tubes serving as the main parts of the masterpieces. Industrialization was glorified in songs, poems and movies. The country was euphoric about its own industrial power.

Kazakhstan was the "flagman" of the five-year plans. It was smelting steel, copper and lead, extracted coal, burnt it in the stoves of large power plants, built chemical plants and these plants produced fertilizers and other chemical products, which were so important for an industrial power. Hundreds of tubes filled the air with hundreds of tones of gases, thousands of cars poisoned the atmosphere by carbon oxides and lead exhaust gases. The carbon dust was laying on the streets of the cities. For example, people living in villages around Ekibastuz, were very surprised when cows walking on the pastures started to loose all of their teeth. They just grind away their teeth eating the grass. The solution for this puzzle was quite simple: the coal of the Ekibastuz coal field had a high concentration of ashes. While the coal was burnt, the ashes flying from the tubes of the power plants were falling right on the ground, where the cows were walking. And the grass served as emery.

The workers of the chemical plant in Alga, Aktubinsk region suffered from having bad teeth and the plant itself was seeing from the distance of many kilometers because orange smoke was coming out of its tube. People living in the city said that there was no fish in any of the nearby lakes and ponds because the orange smoke falling on the water virtually turned it into nitrogen acid.

This was fifteen years ago. Luckily people started to realize that something was going wrong. It was difficult not to realize that because people themselves started to wither and eventually die.

Today many of the specialists: biologists, doctors, engineers, meteorologists are involved in protection of "our" house. Studies have been done in the most disadvantaged regions of the Republic. And it is necessary to face the real facts. And the facts are such that people in these regions get sick more often and their diseases are more difficult to cure and they die at earlier ages. Doctors have even classified the diseases depending on the kind of hramful substance entering air, water or soil. Biologists study the diseases of the plants and also quite preisely determine the cause of the plants' deaths, which suffer not less than people or animals.

So, what currently is done in the Republic, which for a long time was in the first rows of industrializing regions. Believing in the information of such respected sources as "NPDOOS/RK" Center, Health care Committee, Ministry of the conomy and trade and other serious organizations, it is possible to say that Kazakhstan is not in the best shape. Health of the peole has significantly worsened within last decade. In 1996 death rate was 10 persons per each 1000 of population, in 1990 - 7 persons, in 1970 - 6 persons. Birth rates have also declined. In terms of statistics this is called "the disadvantageous demographic situation". In 1990, 22 children were born per each 1000 of population, in 1996 this figure was only 15. The situation is especially difficult in East-Kazakhstan (-3,4 births per 1000 of population), karaganda (-1 per 1000) regions and the city of Almaty (-1).

People started to die earlier. The average life expectancy has become 4 years shorter. Now the average life span of a woman is 70 years and of a man is only 60.

Newborn started to die more often. In 1996 per 1000 of newborn living children, 25 died, and this ratio is much higher in the villages.

Some time ago people in Russia died because of tuberculosis. This disease was spread not only in poor parts of the cities, even thou it is considered to be the disease of bad food, dirty air and low level of medical care. Currently Kazakhstan can sadly admit that on its territory tuberculosis has become a permanent citizen. In 1996 out of each 10000 people living in the country 82 had tuberculosis. This is the record ratio among the former Soviet states, and it is one-and-a-half times higher than in Russia. Only within last year the number of tuberculosis cases has increased 1,22 times.

Specialists justifully noted that people get sick more often and die earlier in those regions where the air is polluted by car exhausts and water is represented by a badly smelling grey liquid. To these signs of the bad surrounding environment of the people it is necessary to add low quality food: vegetables grown on the land polluted by pesticides and filled with all imaginable chemical elements. Kazakhstani scientists have also turned their attention to this situation. Using professional language it can be characterized as "worsening health of the people is region-specific". Unfortunately, this is correct. Where are these regions, where people have diseases more often?

In 1996 children in Kyzyl-Orda region suffered the most from various blood diseases (about 6000 persons per 10000 of population, which is 4,3 times higher than the Nation-wide average). The second place in this case was taken by Semipalatinsk region.

And this is not a surprise for anybody who knows why these regions were famous. In Semipalatinsk region, at the nuclear testing range the most powerful and dangerous weapons were tested within many years. And it is not surprising that here the risk of cancer-related and other serious diseases is quite high.

Kyzyl-Orda - this is another tragic story related to the drying-out of the Aral sea. Some time ago Konstantin Paustovskii called this sea the "indige", filled with fish and reeds, where lots of sea animals were living. Today Aral sea is the place where modern Hollywood producers can make science fiction movies about dead planets destroyed by evil aliens from space. Unfortunately, we represent those aliens. We have dried out the sea, filled with fish with only the leftovers of the ships remaining on its place. They are covered with sand and snakes and lizards live under their remains.

People who lived here some time ago have moved to other places or are dying because of various diseases.

Ecological reasons for the diseases are divided into categories. They are represented by nuclear tests and activities of the military space complex, expansion of deserts, lack of fresh water, air pollution, pollution of the soil, plants and food.

The situation is dramatic in those places where industrial plants are working. Tubes of plants, factories, power plants are throwing out oxides of heavy metals, sulphur, nitrogen, carbon oxides. Heavy metals have harmful influences on all living creatures. They are especially harmful for organisms of children. They have high rates of neurological and psychiatric diseases, lung diseases. The example of this situation is represented by the city of Aksu in Pavlodar region.

High level of cancer related diseases was registered in 1995 in those regions where non-ferrous and ferous metallurgy plants, chemical plants, oil and gas production facilities are located and where the number of cars is high.

Death rates are high in East-Kazakhstan and North-Kazakhstan regions, where there are respectively 13 and 12 deaths per 1000 of population. In all other regions of the Republic (except Mangystau, South-Kazakhstan, Kyzyl-Orda and Almaty) death rates have changed from 9 to 11 (in 1995). The Nation-wide average is 10.

Chemical elements abundantly thrown into the atmosphere by the tubes of factories and plants enter the air, water, fall on the ground. From the soil they easily appear in the plants. The plants are, as it is well-known, eaten by animals and people. Such cycle has been known for a long time and has been noted by Shakespeare, who joked in "Hamlet" that Alexander from Macedonia may be eaten by a bum. This must be understood as a cycle, in which everything entering the soil later appears in the plants and starts a new cycle of life. The same principle can be applied to harmful substances entering the soil.

For example, arsenic has been found in bread, vegetables and potatoes, which were grown or in Torgai region, the same as in fish caught in Kostanai region. For some time arsenic was used in dentistry, but late the developed countries discontinued this practice because of the harmful effects of arsenic on people's organisms.

In Taldy-Korgan, South-Kazakhstan and Torgai regions eating simple bread can cause the development of cancer-related diseases. The same may happen because of drinking polluted milk and eating dairy products in Kostanai, Taldy-Korgan and East-Kazakhstan regions.

*All this comprises a tragic picture: the land, which has for centuries been the south of food for people, has turned into their enemy. Here is a quote from a serious ecological article: "The highest threat of pollution to people is represented by air polluted by dust and by arsenic pollution of food products".

Of course, people react on this situation as they are supposed to react: they get sick more often and die earlier. Moreover, people just do not want to have children. As doctors note, worsening conditions of water, air, soil or of the general environment have significant influence on the health of the least protected part of the population: children and women.

There are no only women's problems.