In accordance with the legislation, during the construction of facilities, their operation and in the post-operational period, it is necessary to carry out industrial environmental monitoring (EM). The purpose of industrial environmental monitoring is to control ecological state environment in the zone of influence of the construction and operation of the facility by collecting measurement data, their complex processing and analysis, to assess the situation and accept management decisions.
Industrial environmental monitoring includes three stages of work:
1) background monitoring (state assessment natural ingredients before the start of construction);
2) monitoring of ongoing changes in the state of natural components during the construction period;
3) monitoring of ongoing changes in the state of natural components during the operation of the construction site.
The tasks of industrial environmental monitoring include:
- implementation of observations of the technogenic impact on the components of the natural environment during the construction of facilities, their operation and the post-operational period;
- analysis and processing of data obtained in the process of monitoring;
- assessment of changes in the state of the components of the natural environment as a result of man-made impacts;
The results of industrial environmental monitoring are used for the following purposes:
- monitoring the compliance of the impact of the construction and operation of the facility on various components of the natural environment with the maximum allowable standard loads;
- monitoring the compliance of the state of the components of the natural environment with sanitary and hygienic and environmental standards;
- development and implementation of environmental protection measures.
The objects of industrial environmental monitoring are:
- emissions of organized and unorganized sources;
- atmospheric precipitation (snow cover);
- surface waters;
- bottom sediments;
- soil cover;
- vegetation cover;
- animal world.
The main sources of impact on monitoring objects are construction equipment and vehicles, temporary facilities serving construction, related infrastructure facilities, production work of all listed facilities, the presence of people in the construction zone and the territory adjacent to it, the subsequent operation of the remaining facilities after construction is completed.
When conducting industrial environmental monitoring, it should be taken into account that the impact on the components of the natural environment during the construction process is much greater than during the operation of the facility, and for an objective assessment of the scale negative impacts it is necessary to assess the state of natural components before the start of construction - background monitoring. Sometimes background monitoring is carried out in the territories adjacent to the construction, in cases where it was impossible to carry out before the start construction works.
This document proposes the basic principles for the preparation of a program for conducting production and environmental monitoring of the animal and plant world, developed by the Scientific Center - "Biodiversity Protection" of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences.
Regulatory framework for industrial environmental monitoring (PEM). Place in TEM monitoring of flora and fauna
The concept of "industrial environmental monitoring" is not defined in the legislation. This concept is collective. Until recently, the Federal Law of January 10, 2001 No. 7-FZ “On Environmental Protection” contained the concept of environmental monitoring. However, at present it contains norms devoted only to state environmental monitoring, which refers to comprehensive observations of the state of the environment, including components of the natural environment, natural ecological systems, observations of the processes and phenomena occurring in them, assessment and forecast of changes in the state of the environment. A number of sectoral laws contain norms obliging economic and other entities to carry out certain measures to monitor the state of individual components of the natural environment, which makes it possible to apply a generalized concept - industrial environmental monitoring. Sub-legislative normative acts adopted prior to the adoption of the above-mentioned Law on Environmental Protection also contain norms obliging economic entities to carry out monitoring. The current legislation in the field of environmental protection and nature management does not prohibit organizations that use natural resources to provide for environmental protection when they carry out economic and other activities on the basis of the regulations of such organizations. At the same time, the approved local regulations are binding on the relevant entities.
Regulations on the Unified State System of Environmental Monitoring, approved. order of the Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia dated February 09, 1995 No. 49, stipulates that “in order to assess the anthropogenic impact of economic activities, systems for monitoring sources of impact on the environment and zones of their direct influence(impact monitoring) that operate within the framework of the corresponding basic and specialized subsystems of the USSEM.
The decision on the need for the enterprise to have these monitoring systems is made by the authorities issuing licenses for nature management and monitoring of the state of the environment.
Systems for monitoring the source of impacts are created at the expense of the economic entity, which ensures their routine functioning.
Order of the Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia dated February 6, 2008 No. 30 “On Approval of Forms and the Procedure for Submitting Information Obtained as a Result of Observations of Water Bodies to Interested Federal Executive Authorities, Owners of Water Bodies and Water Users” provides for a requirement for right holders of water bodies, according to which owners of water bodies and water users are obliged to submit information obtained as a result of observations of water bodies (their morphometric features) and their water protection zones to the relevant territorial authorities federal agency water resources.
Order of the Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia dated May 21, 2001 No. 433 “On approval of the Regulations on the procedure for state monitoring of the state of the subsoil of the Russian Federation” provides for the obligation to conduct object (local) monitoring of the state of the subsoil for subsoil users and other business entities that affect the state of the subsoil. The conditions, volumes and types of monitoring are determined in the process of obtaining subsoil plots for subsoil use.
According to clause 8.1. Rules for the protection of water from pollution during drilling of wells in offshore oil and gas fields. RD 153-39-031-98, approved. Ministry of Fuel and Energy of the Russian Federation March 20, 1998 an organization that received a license for regional geological study of the continental shelf, search, exploration and development mineral resources organizes environmental monitoring marine environment in the area of proposed drilling according to the program agreed with the territorial environmental authorities.
According to Art. 14 of the Federal Law of April 24, 1995 No. 52-FZ “On the Wildlife”, users of the wildlife are required to annually keep records of the objects of the wildlife they use and the volumes of their withdrawal and submit the data to the appropriate specially authorized state body for protection, federal state supervision and regulation of the use of objects of the animal world and their habitat. AT this case we are talking about users who are defined as citizens, individual entrepreneurs and legal entities that are given the opportunity to use the wildlife by the laws and other regulatory legal acts of the Russian Federation and the laws and other regulatory legal acts of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. In the context of the activities of entities involved in the exploration and production of hydrocarbons in continental shelf it is not possible to recognize such subjects as users of wildlife objects.
At the federal level, two documents have been approved (one of which is mandatory for application), operating with the concepts of industrial environmental monitoring. In accordance with the Instruction on the environmental justification of economic and other activities, approved. By order of the Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia dated December 29, 1995 No. 539, the documentation justifying economic activity must include proposals for organizing industrial environmental monitoring. This document has not been registered with the Ministry of Justice of Russia and can be used as a document of a recommendatory nature.
According to the Regulations on the assessment of the impact of planned economic and other activities on the environment in the Russian Federation, approved. by order of the State Committee for Ecology of April 16, 2000 No. 31, in the event that during the environmental impact assessment there is a lack of information necessary to achieve the goal of the environmental impact assessment, or uncertainty factors regarding possible impacts, the customer (executor) plans to conduct additional studies necessary for decision-making, and also determines (develops) in the environmental impact assessment materials a program of environmental monitoring and control aimed at eliminating these uncertainties (clause 1.5.). Thus, this norm, the only one in federal legislation that provides for the obligation for the customer (executor) to develop an environmental monitoring program when planning economic activities, in relation to the development of hydrocarbon deposits.
At the same time, it should be recognized that at present there are no mandatory provisions of federal legislation that provide for the obligation of economic entities to carry out comprehensive monitoring of the state of the environment. The subject-user of natural resources on the continental shelf has no obligation to monitor the objects of flora and fauna (aquatic biological resources).
As stated above binding documents in relation to the monitoring of objects of flora and fauna, local regulations of legal entities can serve. For example, in the system of OAO Gazprom organizations, there are several such acts that designate this type of monitoring and regulate the procedure for its implementation:
1. Typical technical requirements for the design of compressor stations, booster compressor stations and UGS facilities. VRD 39-1.8-055-2002, approved. OAO Gazprom dated February 26, 2002;
2. Regulations for the organization of work on environmental protection during the construction of wells VRD 39-1.13-057-2002 Moscow 2002;
3. Environmental protection at the enterprises of OAO Gazprom Industrial environmental control and monitoring. Terms and definitions STO Gazprom 2-1.19-214-2008;
4. STO Gazprom 2-1.19-415-2010 Environmental Protection at JSC "Gazprom" enterprises. Environmental monitoring. General requirements.
5. STO Gazprom 2-2.1-435-2010 Design of foundations, foundations, engineering protection and monitoring of JSC "Gazprom" facilities in the Far North.
6. Industrial environmental monitoring of the gas industry. Feasibility study. Summary volume. Part 2. Approved. fast. RAO "Gazprom" dated 08.06.95 No. 51.
According to the provisions of these documents, industrial environmental monitoring is provided for all components of the natural environment, including objects of flora and fauna.
Basic principles for monitoring biotic components (terrestrial vertebrates, animal habitats, plant communities, ichthyofauna, marine mammals, marine birds)
The purpose of industrial environmental monitoring. Production environmental monitoring (EM) is carried out in accordance with the Environmental Monitoring Program approved by the Customer-developer and agreed with the territorial divisions of specially authorized government agencies in the field of environmental protection.
The organization of monitoring work is carried out by the production departments of the Customer-developer with the participation of involved survey and research organizations that have the necessary permits for the required types of activities.
Monitoring of the animal world and its habitats (hereinafter - monitoring) is carried out in order to control their changes associated with the construction and operation of an economic facility. Monitoring provides timely identification of problem situations, introduction and removal of environmental restrictions, confirmation of the effectiveness of environmental protection measures, adjustment of damages, environmental investments and compensation measures.
Territorial objects of monitoring, frequency of work. Monitoring is carried out at each construction site in all types of habitats on the construction site, in zones of indirect impact, and in some cases outside of construction - in similar habitats.
The initial stage of work - background monitoring, is carried out before the start of construction of the facility (in accordance with the technical design of construction work), and in exceptional cases during construction - in similar habitats adjacent to the impact zone of construction work and in the impact zone. Subsequently, monitoring is carried out annually at all stages of the construction of the facility, and later, throughout the entire period of operation of the facility - at least once every three years.
1. The sequence of work.
Selection of monitoring sites, points, routes, observation points. Determined on the basis of the requirements of regulatory technical documentation environmental monitoring programs and include:
● Zones of influence of each construction object with indication of their areas;
● The number of observation points and the length of routes, depending on the diversity and accessibility for surveying animal habitats.
Particular attention is paid to the assessment of the state of the animal world and its habitats for the most valuable areas of the region in terms of wealth. These are, first of all, valleys and estuaries of rivers with a rich species diversity of fauna and plant communities, ravines and coastal cliffs of rivers, areas of shallow water, muddy littorals and coastal meadows, water areas of large lakes and rivers, etc. Such areas often attract terrestrial vertebrates for breeding or as places for post-nesting gatherings, feeding and resting of birds during periods of spring and autumn migrations. This is especially true of rare animals and those listed in the Red Books. Therefore, the construction and subsequent operation of economic facilities in such areas should be carried out with extreme caution, if possible, shifting work to less vulnerable periods for animals, reducing the intensity and noise impact of work on wildlife, preventing the destruction of animals, nests with clutches and chicks. This requires regular briefing of all participants in the construction work and the subsequent operation of the facility, as well as increased control over compliance with the special care of the work.
Background monitoring . Held as a one-time event in the first year of monitoring work - before the start of construction.
Monitoring during the construction period. Planned from the start of construction to its completion.
Monitoring at the end of construction. It is carried out at least once every three years at all constructed facilities.
2. Objects of monitoring. Terrestrial vertebrates, ichthyofauna, animal habitats, state of plant communities. Increased attention is paid to species listed in the federal and regional Red Books. A special object of monitoring is animal habitats, primarily vegetation cover and all species anthropogenic impacts.
3. Terms of monitoring. Depending on the region of construction, for migratory waterfowl - April - first half of June; for birds during the breeding season - from mid-May to mid-July, for small mammals, reptiles and amphibians during the breeding season - from the second half of July to August; for marine mammals in the warm half of the year, for habitats - during the growing season of plants.
Table 1.
|
Scope of work |
Assessment of the general state of geobotanical communities in reference areas. |
4. Methodological support. According to the list necessary work(Table 1), basic methods are:
● Methodology for field inventory of habitats;
● Methodology for integrated accounting of birds (all species) in summer period;
● Methodology for counting birds during migration;
● Methodology for counting small mammals;
● Methodology for accounting for reptiles;
● Amphibian accounting methodology;
● Methodology for accounting for marine mammals;
● Methodology for accounting for fish resources;
● Methodology for accounting for the food base of fish;
● Methodology for identifying plant species listed in the Red Books;
● Methodology for assessing the state of geobotanical communities.
5. Staffing. All types of work are entrusted (ordered for execution) to a specialized organization that has relevant experience and the necessary permits in various areas (interpretation of satellite images, production of thematic maps, etc.). All types of monitoring during the field period are carried out constant number specialists corresponding to the profile of work - zoologists, zoogeographers, geobotanists (with knowledge of deciphering satellite images), specialists in inventory of animal habitats.
For office processing, environmentalists of a wide profile, specialists in deciphering satellite images, mathematical processing credentials, creation of computer maps and databases.
6. Field equipment. To ensure field work, it is necessary to purchase standard expedition equipment (tents, special bags, GPS, cameras); satellite imagery, etc.
7. Transportation. Transportation options are being worked out to conduct surveys.
8. Staged work.
8.1. Selection of initial data and their generalization. To develop regulations and conduct industrial environmental monitoring and control, the following materials are completed:
● materials of pre-project environmental and engineering surveys, including cartographic materials;
● requirements of normative and technical documentation and conclusions of state executive authorities of the Russian Federation;
● vegetation map of the construction area;
● satellite imagery materials of the construction area;
● materials of studies of the animal and plant world of past years.
8.2. Collection of field material (actual monitoring). It is carried out according to the recommended methods.
8.3. Operational data processing and presentation to the Customer. It is carried out within 30 days after the return of field detachments.
8.4. Office processing of field materials for annual report . Implemented by December 1st calendar year work and presented to the Customer.
SZ RF. 2002. No. 2. Art. 133.
The document is not registered with the Ministry of Justice of Russia. SZ RF. 1995. No. 17. Art. 1462.
The document is not registered with the Ministry of Justice.
The concept of environmental monitoring Monitoring is a system repeated observations one or more elements of the natural environment in space and time with specific goals and in accordance with a pre-prepared program Menn 1972. The concept of environmental monitoring was first introduced by R. Clarifying the definition of environmental monitoring by Yu.
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Lecture #14
Environmental monitoring
- The concept of environmental monitoring
- Tasks of environmental monitoring
- Monitoring classification
- Assessment of the actual state of the environment (sanitary and hygienic monitoring, environmental)
- Forecast and assessment of the predicted state
1. The concept of environmental monitoring
Monitoring is a system of repeated observations of one or more elements of the natural environment in space and time with specific goals and in accordance with a pre-prepared program (Menn, 1972). The need for detailed information about the state of the biosphere has become even more evident in recent decades in connection with the serious negative consequences caused by uncontrolled human exploitation of natural resources.
To detect changes in the state of the biosphere under the influence of human activity, an observation system is needed. Such a system is now commonly referred to as monitoring.
The word "monitoring" has entered into scientific circulation from English-language literature and comes from the English word " monitoring " comes from the word " monitor ", which in English next value: monitor, device or device for monitoring and constant control over something.
The concept of environmental monitoring was first introduced by R. Menn in 1972. at the UN Stockholm Conference.
In our country, one of the first to develop the theory of monitoring was Yu.A. Israel. While clarifying the definition of environmental monitoring, Yu.A.Izrael back in 1974 focused not only on observation, but also on forecasting, introducing the anthropogenic factor as the main cause of these changes into the definition of the term “environmental monitoring”. Monitoring environmenthe calls the system of observations, assessment and forecast of anthropogenic changes in the state of the natural environment. (Fig.1) . The Stockholm Conference (1972) on the environment marked the beginning of the creation of global systems for monitoring the state of the environment (GEMS / GEMS).
Monitoring includes the followingmain directions activities:
- Observations of factors affecting the natural environment and the state of the environment;
- Assessment of the actual state of the natural environment;
- Forecast of the state of the natural environment. And an assessment of this state.
Thus, monitoring is a multi-purpose information system for observing, analyzing, diagnosing and predicting the state of the natural environment, which does not include environmental quality management, but provides necessary information for such control (Fig. 2.).
Information system / monitoring / management
Rice. 2. Block diagram of the monitoring system.
2. Tasks of environmental monitoring
- Scientific and technical support for observation, assessment of the forecast of the state of the environment;
- Monitoring the sources of pollutants and the level of environmental pollution;
- Identification of sources and factors of pollution and assessment of the degree of their impact on the environment;
- Assessment of the actual state of the environment;
- Forecast of changes in the state of the environment and ways to improve the situation. (Fig.3.) .
The essence and content of environmental monitoring consists of an ordered set of procedures organized in cycles: N 1 - observations, O 1 - estimate, P 1 - forecast and Y 1 - management. Then the observations are supplemented with new data, on a new cycle, and then the cycles are repeated on a new time interval H 2, O 2, P 2, U 2, etc. (Fig. 4.) .
Thus, monitoring is a complexly built, cyclically functioning and developing in time spiral constantly operating system.
Rice. 4. Scheme of functioning of monitoring in time.
3. Classification of monitoring.
- By the scope of observation;
- By objects of observation;
- According to the level of contamination of objects of observation;
- According to factors and sources of pollution;
- Observation methods.
According to the scale of observation
|
Level name monitoring |
Monitoring Organizations |
|
Global |
Interstate monitoring system environment |
|
National |
State system for monitoring the environment of the territory of Russia |
|
Regional |
Territorial, regional environmental monitoring systems |
|
Local |
City, district environmental monitoring systems |
|
Detailed |
Environmental monitoring systems for enterprises, deposits, factories, etc. |
Detailed Monitoring
The lowest hierarchical level is the level of detailedenvironmental monitoring, implemented within the territories and on the scale of individual enterprises, factories, individual engineering structures, economic complexes, deposits, etc. Systems of detailed environmental monitoring are the most important link in the system of a higher rank. Their integration into a larger network forms a local level monitoring system.
Local monitoring (impact)
It is carried out in heavily polluted places (cities, settlements, water bodies, etc.) and is focused on the source of pollution. AT
Due to the proximity to sources of pollution, all the main substances that make up emissions into the atmosphere and discharge into water bodies are usually present in significant quantities. Local systems, in turn, are combined into even larger ones - regional monitoring systems.
Regional monitoring
Conducted within a certain region, taking into account natural character, type and intensity anthropogenic impact. Regional environmental monitoring systems are combined within one state into a single national monitoring network.
National monitoring
Monitoring system within one state. Such a system differs from global monitoring not only in scale, but also in that the main task of national monitoring is to obtain information and assess the state of the environment in the national interest. In Russia, it is carried out under the leadership of the Ministry of Natural Resources. As part of environmental program The UN has been tasked with uniting national monitoring systems into a single interstate network - the "Global Environmental Monitoring Network" (GEMS)
Global monitoring
The purpose of GEMS is to monitor changes in the environment on Earth as a whole, on a global scale. Global monitoring is a system for tracking the state and forecasting possible changes in global processes and phenomena, including anthropogenic impact on the biosphere as a whole. GEMS is engaged in global warming climate, ozone layer problems, forest conservation, droughts, etc. .
By objects of observation
- atmospheric air
- in settlements;
- different layers of the atmosphere;
- stationary and mobile sources pollution.
- Ground and surface water bodies
- fresh and salt water;
- mixing zones;
- regulated water bodies;
- natural reservoirs and streams.
- Geological environment
- soil layer;
- soils.
- Biological monitoring
- plants;
- animals;
- ecosystems;
- Human.
- Snow monitoring
- Background radiation monitoring.
The level of contamination of objects of observation
- Background (basic monitoring)
These are observations of environmental objects in relatively clean natural areas.
2. Impact
Oriented to the source of pollution or a particular polluting effect.
By factors and sources of pollution
1. Gradient monitoring
This is the physical impact on the environment. These are radiation, thermal effects, infrared, noise, vibration, etc.
2. Ingredient monitoring
This is the monitoring of a single pollutant.
By methods of observation
1. Contact methods
2. Remote methods.
4. Assessment of the actual state of the environment
Assessment of the actual state is a key direction in the framework of environmental monitoring. It allows you to determine trends in changes in the state of the environment; the degree of trouble and its causes; helps to make decisions on the normalization of the situation. Favorable situations that indicate the presence of ecological reserves of nature can also be identified.
The ecological reserve of a natural ecosystem is the difference between the maximum allowable and the actual state of the ecosystem.
The method for analyzing the results of observations and assessing the state of the ecosystem depend on the type of monitoring. Usually, the assessment is carried out according to a set of indicators or according to conditional indices developed for the atmosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere. Unfortunately, there are no unified criteria even for identical elements of the natural environment. For example, consider only a few criteria.
In sanitary and hygienic monitoring, they usually use:
1) comprehensive assessments of the sanitary state of natural objects based on the totality of measured indicators (Table 1) or 2) pollution indices.
Table 1.
Comprehensive assessment of the sanitary state of water bodies based on a combination of physical, chemical and hydrobiological indicators
The general principle for calculating pollution indices is as follows: first, the degree of deviation of the concentration of each pollutant from its MPC is determined, and then the obtained values are combined into a total indicator that takes into account the impact of several substances.
Let us give examples of the calculation of pollution indices used to assess atmospheric air pollution (AP) and surface water quality (SWQ).
Calculation of the air pollution index (API).
AT practical work use a large number of different APIs. Some of them are based on indirect indicators of atmospheric pollution, for example, on the visibility of the atmosphere, on the transparency coefficient.
Various ISAs, which can be divided into 2 main groups:
1. Single indices of atmospheric pollution by one impurity.
2. Comprehensive indicators of atmospheric pollution by several substances.
To single indices relate:
The coefficient for expressing the impurity concentration in MPC units ( a ), i.e. the value of the maximum or average concentration, reduced to MPC:
a = Сί / MACί
This API is used as a criterion for atmospheric air quality by individual impurities.
Repeatability (g ) concentrations of impurities in the air above a given level by post or by K posts of the city for the year. This is the percentage (%) of cases when the specified level is exceeded by single values of the impurity concentration:
g = (m / n ) ּ100%
where n - the number of observations for the period under review, m - the number of cases of exceeding one-time concentrations at the post.
ISA (I ) a separate impurity - quantitative characteristic the level of atmospheric pollution by a separate impurity, taking into account the hazard class of the substance through standardization for SO hazard 2 :
I \u003d (C g / MPCs) Ki
where I is an impurity, Ki - constant for various hazard classes to reduce to the degree of harmfulness of sulfur dioxide, C d is the average annual impurity concentration.
For substances of different hazard classes Ki is accepted:
|
Hazard Class |
||||
|
Ki value |
The API calculation is based on the assumption that at the MPC level, all harmful substances are characterized by the same effect on a person, and with a further increase in concentration, the degree of their harmfulness increases at a different rate, which depends on the hazard class of the substance.
This API is used to characterize the contribution of individual impurities to the total level of atmospheric pollution over a given period of time in a given territory and to compare the degree of atmospheric pollution by various substances.
To complex indices relate:
The Comprehensive Urban Air Pollution Index (CIPA) is a quantitative measure of the level of air pollution generated by n substances present in the atmosphere of the city:
KIZA=
where II - unit index of air pollution by the i-th substance.
The complex index of air pollution by priority substances - a quantitative characteristic of the level of air pollution by priority substances that determine air pollution in cities, is calculated similarly to the KIZA.
Calculations of the natural water pollution index (WPI)can also be done in several ways.
Let us give as an example the calculation method recommended by the regulatory document, which is an integral part of the Rules for the Protection of Surface Waters (1991) - SanPiN 4630-88.
First, the measured concentrations of pollutants are grouped according to the limiting signs of harmfulness - LPV (organoleptic, toxicological and general sanitary). Then, for the first and second (organoleptic and toxicological LPV) groups, the degree of deviation (A i ) actual concentrations of substances ( C i ) from their MPC i , the same as for atmospheric air ( A i = C i / MPC i ). Next, find the sum of the indicators A i , for the first and second groups of substances:
where S is the sum of A i for substances regulated by organoleptic ( S org ) and toxicological ( S tox ) LPV; n - number of summarized indicators of water quality.
In addition, to determine the WPI, the value of oxygen dissolved in water and BOD are used. 20 (general sanitary LPV), bacteriological indicator - the number of lactose-positive coli(LPKP) in 1 liter of water, smell and taste. The water pollution index is determined in accordance with the hygienic classification of water bodies according to the degree of pollution (Table 2).
Comparing the corresponding indicators ( S org , S tox , BOD 20 etc.) with evaluation ones (see Table 2), determine the pollution index, the degree of pollution of the water body and the water quality class. The pollution index is determined by the most stringent value of the estimated indicator. So, if according to all indicators the water belongs to the I quality class, but the oxygen content in it is less than 4.0 mg/l (but more than 3.0 mg/l), then the WPI of such water should be taken as 1 and attributed to the II class quality ( moderate degree pollution).
Types of water use depend on the degree of water pollution in a water body (Table 3).
Table 2.
Hygienic classification of water bodies according to the degree of pollution (according to SanPiN 4630-88)
Table 3
Possible types water use depending on the degree of pollution of the water body (according to SanPiN 4630-88)
|
Degree of pollution |
Possible use of a single object |
|
Permissible |
Suitable for all types of water use of the population with virtually no restrictions |
|
Moderate |
Indicates the danger of using a water body for cultural and domestic chains. Use as a source of domestic and drinking water supply without reducing the level: chemical pollution at water treatment facilities can lead to initial symptoms of intoxication in a part of the population, especially in the presence of substances of the 1st and 2nd hazard classes |
|
high |
Unconditional danger of cultural and domestic water use at a water body. It is unacceptable to use it as a source of domestic and drinking water supply due to the difficulty of removing toxic substances in the process of water treatment. Drinking water can lead to the appearance of symptoms of intoxication and the development of separated effects, especially in the presence of substances of the 1st and 2nd hazard classes. |
|
Extremely high |
Absolute unsuitability for all types of water use. Even short-term use of water in a water body is dangerous for public health |
In the services of the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation, to assess water quality, they use the method of calculating WPI only by chemical indicators, but taking into account more stringent fishery MPCs. At the same time, not 4, but 7 quality classes are distinguished:
I - very pure water (WPI = 0.3);
II - pure (WPI = 0.3 - 1.0);
III - moderately polluted (WPI = 1.0 - 2.5);
IV - polluted (WPI = 2.5 - 4.0);
V - dirty (WPI = 4.0 - 6.0);
VI - very dirty (WPI = 6.0 - 10.0);
VII - extremely dirty (WPI over 10.0).
Assessment of the level of chemical contamination of the soilis carried out according to the indicators developed in geochemical and geohygienic studies. These indicators are:
- chemical concentration factor (K i ),
K i \u003d C i / C fi
where C i is the actual content of the analyte in the soil, mg/kg;
C fi – regional background content of the substance in the soil, mg/kg.
In the presence of MPC i for the soil type under consideration, K i determined by the multiplicity of exceeding the hygienic standard, i.e. according to the formula
K i = С i / MPC i
- total pollution index Z c , which is determined by the sum of the chemical concentration coefficients:
Zc \u003d ∑ K i - (n -1)
Where n is the number of pollutants in the soil, K i - concentration factor.
An approximate rating scale for the danger of soil pollution in terms of the total indicator is presented in Table. 3.
Table 3
|
Danger |
Change in health |
|
|
admissible |
16 |
low morbidity in children, minimum functional deviations |
|
moderately dangerous |
16-32 |
an increase in the overall incidence |
|
dangerous |
32-128 |
an increase in the overall incidence rate; an increase in the number of sick children, children with chronic diseases, disorders of cardio-vascular system |
|
extremely dangerous |
128 |
an increase in the overall incidence rate; increase in the number of sick children, impaired reproductive function |
Environmental monitoring is of particular importance in the global systemmonitoring of the environment and, first of all, in the monitoring of renewable resources of the biosphere. It includes observations of the ecological state of terrestrial, aquatic and marine ecosystems.
As criteria characterizing changes in the state natural systems, can be used: balance of production and destruction; the value of primary production, the structure of the biocenosis; the rate of circulation of biogenic substances, etc. All these criteria are numerically expressed by various chemical and biological indicators. Thus, changes in the vegetation cover of the Earth are determined by changes in the area of forests.
The main result of environmental monitoring should be an assessment of the responses of ecosystems as a whole to anthropogenic disturbances.
The response, or reaction of an ecosystem, is a change in its ecological state in response to external influences. It is best to evaluate the reaction of the system by the integral indicators of its state, which can be used as various indices and other functional characteristics. Let's consider some of them:
1. One of the most common responses of aquatic ecosystems to anthropogenic impacts is eutrophication. Therefore, monitoring the change in indicators that integrally reflect the degree of eutrophication of a reservoir, for example, pH 100% , - the most important element of environmental monitoring.
2. The response to "acid rain" and other anthropogenic impacts may be a change in the structure of biocenoses of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. To assess such a response, various indices of species diversity are widely used, reflecting the fact that under any adverse conditions, the diversity of species in the biocenosis decreases, and the number of resistant species increases.
Dozens of such indices have been proposed by various authors. Indices based on information theory have found the greatest use, for example, the Shannon index:
where N - total number individuals; S - number of species; N i - the number of individuals of the i -th species.
In practice, one does not deal with the abundance of a species in the entire population (in a sample), but with the abundance of a species in a sample; replacing N i /N by n i / n , we get:
The maximum diversity is observed when the numbers of all species are equal, and the minimum - when all species, except for one, are represented by one specimen. Diversity indices ( d ) reflect the structure of the community, weakly depend on the sample size, and are dimensionless.
Yu. L. Wilm (1970) calculated the Shannon diversity indices ( d ) in 22 uncontaminated and 21 polluted sections of different US rivers. In uncontaminated areas, the index ranged from 2.6 to 4.6, and in contaminated areas - from 0.4 to 1.6.
Assessment of the state of ecosystems in terms of species diversity is applicable to any types of impacts and any ecosystems.
3. The reaction of the system can manifest itself in a decrease in its resistance to anthropogenic stresses. As a universal integral criterion for assessing the sustainability of ecosystems, V. D. Fedorov (1975) proposed a function called a measure of homeostasis and equal to the ratio functional indicators (for example, pH 100% or rate of photosynthesis) to structural (diversity indices).
A feature of ecological monitoring is that the effects of impacts, hardly noticeable when studying an individual organism or species, are revealed when considering the system as a whole.
5. Forecast and assessment of the predicted state
The forecast and assessment of the predicted state of ecosystems and the biosphere are based on the results of environmental monitoring in the past and present, the study of information series of observations and the analysis of trends in changes.
On the initial stage it is necessary to predict changes in the intensity of sources of impacts and pollution, to predict the degree of their influence: to predict, for example, the amount of pollutants in various media, their distribution in space, changes in their properties and concentrations over time. To make such forecasts, data on human activity plans are needed.
The next stage is the forecast of possible changes in the biosphere under the influence of existing pollution and other factors, since changes that have already occurred (especially genetic ones) can act for many more years. An analysis of the predicted state allows choosing priority environmental measures and making adjustments to economic activities at the regional level.
Forecasting the state of ecosystems is a necessary ringing in the management of the quality of the natural environment.
In assessing the ecological state of the biosphere on a global scale according to integral features(averaged in space and time) remote observation methods play an exceptional role. Leading among them are methods based on the use of space facilities. For these purposes, special satellite systems are being created (Meteor in Russia, Landsat in the USA, etc.). Synchronous three-level observations with the help of satellite systems, aircraft and ground services are especially effective. They allow obtaining information about the state of forests, agricultural land, sea phytoplankton, soil erosion, urban areas, redistribution of water resources, atmospheric pollution, etc. For example, there is a correlation between the spectral brightness of the planet’s surface and the humus content in soils and their salinity.
Space photography provides ample opportunities for geobotanical zoning; makes it possible to judge the growth of the population by the areas of settlements; energy consumption by the brightness of night lights; clearly identify dust layers and temperature anomalies associated with radioactive decay; fix elevated concentrations chlorophyll in water bodies; detect foci forest fires and much more.
in Russia since the late 1960s. there is a unified nationwide system for monitoring and control of environmental pollution. It is based on the principle of the complexity of observations of natural environments in terms of hydrometeorological, physicochemical, biochemical and biological parameters. Observations are built on a hierarchical principle.
The first stage is local observation points serving the city, region and consisting of control and measuring stations and a computer center for collecting and processing information (CSI). Then the data goes to the second level - regional (territorial), from where the information is transferred to local interested organizations. The third level is the Main Data Center, which collects and summarizes information on a national scale. For this, PCs are now widely used and digital raster maps are created.
Currently, the Unified State Environmental Monitoring System (EGSEM) is being created, the purpose of which is to issue objective comprehensive information about the state of the environment. USSEM includes monitoring: sources of anthropogenic impact on the environment; pollution of the abiotic component of the natural environment; biotic component of the natural environment.
The USSEM provides for the creation of environmental information services. Monitoring is carried out by the State Observation Service (GOS).
Observations for atmospheric air in 1996 they were held in 284 cities at 664 posts. As of January 1, 1996, the monitoring network for pollution of surface waters of the Russian Federation consisted of 1928 points, 2617 alignments, 2958 verticals, 3407 horizons located on 1363 water bodies (1979 - 1200 water bodies); of these - 1204 watercourses and 159 reservoirs. Within the framework of the State Monitoring of the Geological Environment (GMGS), the observation network amounted to 15,000 observation points for groundwater, 700 observation sites for dangerous exogenous processes, 5 polygons and 30 wells for studying earthquake precursors.
Among all the blocks of the USSEM, the most complex and least developed not only in Russia, but also in the world is the monitoring of the biotic component. There is no single methodology for the use of living objects either for assessing or for regulating the quality of the environment. Therefore, the primary task is to determine the biotic indicators for each of the monitoring blocks at the federal and territorial levels in a differentiated way for terrestrial, water and soil ecosystems.
To manage the quality of the natural environment, it is important not only to have information about its state, but also to determine the damage from anthropogenic impacts, economic efficiency, environmental protection measures, own the economic mechanisms of environmental protection.
actual condition
environment
The state of the environment
environments
Behind the state
environment
And the factors on
affecting her
Forecast
mark
Observations
Monitoring
observations
Status forecast
Assessment of the actual state
Estimation of the predicted state
Environmental quality regulation
ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING
TASK
GOAL
OBSERVATION
GRADE
FORECAST
DECISION-MAKING
STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT
DETECTION
behind the change in the state of the environment
proposed environmental changes
observed changes and identification of the effect of human activity
causes of environmental change associated with human activities
to prevent
negative consequences of human activity
optimal relationship between society and the environment
Fig.3. Main tasks and purpose of monitoring
H 1
About 2
H 2
P 1
About 1
The most important issue of the strategy for regulating the quality of environmental protection systems is the issue of creating a system capable of determining the most critical sources and factors of anthropogenic impact on public health and environmental protection, identifying the most vulnerable elements and links of the biosphere subject to such impact.
Such a system is recognized as a system for monitoring anthropogenic changes in the state of the natural environment, capable of providing the necessary information for decision-making by the relevant services, departments, and organizations.
Environmental monitoring- an integrated system of observations, assessment and forecast of the state of the environment under the influence of natural and anthropogenic factors.
The basic principle of monitoring is continuous tracking.
The purpose of environmental monitoring is information support for the management of environmental activities and environmental safety, optimization of human relations with nature.
There are different types of monitoring depending on the criteria:
Bioecological (sanitary and hygienic),
Geoecological (natural and economic),
Biospheric (global),
Space,
Climatic, biological, public health, social, etc.
Depending on the degree of anthropogenic impact, there are impact and background monitoring. Background (basic) monitoring- monitoring of natural phenomena and processes occurring in a natural setting, without anthropogenic influence. It is carried out on the basis of biosphere reserves. Impact Monitoring- monitoring of anthropogenic impacts in especially dangerous areas.
Depending on the scale of observation, global, regional and local monitoring are distinguished.
Global monitoring– tracking the development of global biospheric processes and phenomena (for example, the state of the ozone layer, climate change).
Regional monitoring- monitoring of natural and anthropogenic processes and phenomena within a certain region (for example, the state of Lake Baikal).
Local monitoring– monitoring within a small area (for example, monitoring the air quality in a city).
The Unified State Environmental Monitoring System (EGSEM) is functioning and developing in the Russian Federation, formed at three main organizational levels: federal, constituent entities of the Russian Federation and local (object) in order to radically increase the efficiency of the monitoring service. Based on the monitoring results, recommendations are developed to reduce the level of environmental pollution and a forecast for the future.
Monitoring systems are linked to environmental expertise and environmental impact assessment (EIA).
Regulation of environmental quality (environmental regulation)
Under environmental quality understand the degree to which a person's living environment meets his needs. The human environment includes natural conditions, workplace conditions and living conditions. Life expectancy, health, the level of morbidity of the population, etc. depend on its quality.
Environmental regulation– the process of establishing indicators of the maximum permissible human impact on the environment. Its main goal is to ensure an acceptable balance between ecology and economy. Such rationing allows you to conduct economic activities and preserve the natural environment.
In the Russian Federation, the following are subject to regulation:
Physical impact factors (noise, vibration, electromagnetic fields, radioactive radiation);
Chemical factors - concentrations of harmful substances in the air, water, soil, food;
Biological factors - the content of pathogenic microorganisms in the air, water, food.
Environmental standards are divided into 3 main groups:
Technological standards - set for various industries and processes, rational use of raw materials and energy, minimizing waste;
Scientific and technical standards - provide for a system of calculations and periodic revision of standards, control over the impact on the environment;
Medical standards - determine the level of danger to public health.
Regulation of environmental quality– establishment of indicators and limits within which these indicators can be changed (for air, water, soil, etc.).
The purpose of normalization is to establish the limit allowable norms(environmental standards) human impact on the environment. Compliance with environmental standards should ensure the environmental safety of the population, the preservation of the genetic fund of humans, plants and animals, the rational use and reproduction of natural resources.
The standards for maximum permissible harmful effects, as well as methods for their determination, are temporary and can be improved as science and technology develop, taking into account international standards.
The main environmental standards for the quality of the environment and the impact on it are as follows:
1. Quality standards (sanitary and hygienic):
Maximum allowable concentrations (MPC) of harmful substances;
The maximum permissible level (MPL) of harmful physical effects (radiation, noise, vibration, magnetic fields, etc.)
2. Impact standards (industrial and economic):
Maximum allowable emission (MAE) of harmful substances;
Maximum allowable discharge (MPD) of harmful substances.
3. Comprehensive regulations:
Maximum permissible ecological (anthropogenic) load on the environment.
Maximum Permissible Concentration (MAC)- the amount of a pollutant in the environment (soil, air, water, food), which, with permanent or temporary exposure to a person, does not affect his health and does not cause adverse effects on his offspring. MPC is calculated per unit volume (for air, water), mass (for soil, food) or surface (for the skin of workers). MPC is established on the basis of complex studies. When determining it, the degree of influence of pollutants not only on human health, but also on animals, plants, microorganisms, as well as on natural communities as a whole, is taken into account.
Maximum Permissible Level (MPL)- this is the maximum level of exposure to radiation, vibration noise, magnetic fields and other harmful physical effects, which does not pose a danger to human health, the condition of animals, plants, their genetic fund. MPC is the same as MPC, but for physical impacts.
In cases where MPC or MPC are not defined and are only at the development stage, indicators such as APC - approximately permissible concentration, or TAC - approximately permissible level, respectively, are used.
Maximum Permissible Emission (MPE) or Discharge (MPD)- this is the maximum amount of pollutants that a given enterprise is allowed to emit into the atmosphere or discharge into a reservoir per unit of time without causing them to exceed the maximum permissible concentrations of pollutants and adverse environmental consequences.
A complex indicator of environmental quality is the maximum permissible environmental load.
Maximum permissible ecological (anthropogenic) load on the environment (MPEL)- this is the maximum intensity of anthropogenic impact on the environment, which does not lead to a violation of the sustainability of ecological systems (or, in other words, to the exit of the ecosystem beyond the ecological capacity).
The potential ability of the natural environment to transfer one or another anthropogenic load without disturbing the basic functions of ecosystems is defined as the capacity of the natural environment, or the ecological capacity of the territory.
The sustainability of ecosystems to anthropogenic impacts depends on the following indicators:
Stocks of animal and dead organic matter;
Efficiency of organic matter formation or canopy production;
Species and structural diversity.
The higher these indicators, the more stable the ecosystem.
Environmental monitoring is a set of observations that are conducted over the state in which it is, as well as its assessment and forecast of changes occurring in it under the influence of both anthropogenic and natural factors.
As a rule, such studies are always carried out in any territory, but the services involved in them belong to different departments, and their actions are not coordinated in any of the aspects. For this reason, environmental monitoring is faced with a priority task: to determine the ecological and economic region. Next step consists in the choice of information relating specifically to the state of the environment. You also need to make sure that the data received is sufficient to draw the right conclusions.
Types of environmental monitoring
Since many tasks of various levels are solved during observation, at one time it was proposed to distinguish three areas of observation:
Sanitary and hygienic;
Natural and economic;
Global.
However, in practice, it turned out that the approach does not clearly define zoning and organizational parameters. It is also impossible to precisely separate the functions of the environmental observation subtypes.
Environmental monitoring: subsystems
The main subspecies of environmental monitoring are:
This service deals with the control and forecast of climate fluctuations. It covers the ice cover, atmosphere, ocean and other parts of the biosphere that influence its formation.
Geophysical monitoring. This service analyzes data on and data from hydrologists, meteorologists.
Biological monitoring. This service monitors how environmental pollution affects all living organisms.
Monitoring the health of residents of a given territory. This service observes, analyzes and predicts the population.
So in general view environmental monitoring is as follows. The environment (or one of its objects) is selected, its parameters are measured, information is collected, and then transmitted. After that, the data is processed, their general characteristics are given on current stage and making predictions for the future.
Levels of monitoring the state of the environment
Environmental monitoring is a multilevel system. In ascending order it looks like this:
Detail level. Monitoring is carried out in small areas.
local level. This system is formed when parts of detailed monitoring are combined into one network. That is, it is already being conducted on the territory of a district or a large city.
Regional level. It covers the territory of several regions within the same region or region.
National level. It is formed by regional monitoring systems united within one country.
Global level. It combines the monitoring systems of several nations. Its task is to monitor the state of the environment around the world, to predict its changes, which occur, among other things, as a result of the impact on the biosphere.
Observation Program
Environmental monitoring is scientifically justified and has its own program. It specifies the purpose of its implementation, concrete steps and implementation methods. The main points that make up monitoring are as follows:
List of objects that are controlled. The exact indication of their territory.
List of indicators of ongoing control and acceptable limits of their changes.
And finally, the time frame, that is, how often samples should be taken, and when data should be provided.
Environmental monitoring
Introduction
The environmental monitoring system should accumulate, systematize and analyze information:
on the state of the environment;
about the causes of observed and probable changes in state (i.e. about
sources and factors of influence);
on the admissibility of changes and loads on the environment as a whole;
about the existing reserves of the biosphere.
Thus, the environmental monitoring system includes observations of the state of the elements of the biosphere and observations of the sources and factors of anthropogenic impact.
In accordance with the above definitions and the functions assigned to the system, monitoring includes three main areas of activity:
monitoring the impact factors and the state of the environment;
assessment of the actual state of the environment;
forecast of the state of the environment and assessment
predicted state.
It should be taken into account that the monitoring system itself does not include environmental quality management activities, but is a source of information necessary for making environmentally significant decisions.
The main tasks of environmental monitoring:
monitoring of sources of anthropogenic impact;
observation of anthropogenic impact factors;
observation of the state of the natural environment and what is happening in it
processes under the influence of anthropogenic factors;
assessment of the actual state of the natural environment;
forecast of changes in the state of the natural environment under the influence of factors
anthropogenic impact and assessment of the predicted state
natural environment.
Environmental monitoring of the environment can be developed at the level of an industrial facility, city, region, territory, republic as part of a federation.
The nature and mechanism of generalization of information about the environmental situation as it moves through the hierarchical levels of the environmental monitoring system is determined using the concept of an information portrait environmental situation. The latter is a set of graphically presented spatially distributed data characterizing the ecological situation in a certain area, together with the map base of the area.
When developing an environmental monitoring project, the following information is required:
Sources of pollutants entering the environment - emissions of pollutants into the atmosphere by industrial, energy, transport and others, leading to the release of hazardous substances into the atmosphere and the spill of liquid pollutants and hazardous substances, etc.;
Transfers of pollutants - processes of atmospheric transfer; processes of transfer and migration in the aquatic environment;
Processes of landscape-geochemical redistribution of pollutants - migration of pollutants along the soil profile to the level of groundwater; migration of pollutants along the landscape-geochemical conjugation, taking into account geochemical barriers and
biochemical cycles; biochemical circulation, etc.;
Data on the state of anthropogenic sources of pollution - the power of the source of pollution and its location, hydrodynamic conditions for the entry of pollution into the environment.
It should be taken into account that the monitoring system itself does not include environmental quality management activities, but is a source of information necessary for making environmentally significant decisions. The term control, which is often used in the Russian-language literature to describe the analytical determination of certain parameters (for example, control of the composition of atmospheric air, control of water quality in reservoirs), should be used only in relation to activities involving the adoption of active regulatory measures.
"Environmental control" is the activity of state bodies, enterprises and citizens to comply with environmental norms and rules. There are state, industrial and public environmental control.
Legislative framework environmental control are regulated by the Law of the Russian Federation "On Environmental Protection";
1. Environmental control sets its tasks: monitoring
the state of the environment and its change under the influence of economic and
other activities; verification of the implementation of plans and measures for the protection
nature, rational use of natural resources, health improvement
environment, compliance
environmental legislation and environmental quality standards.
2. The environmental control system consists of a public service
monitoring of the state of the environment, state,
production, public control. Thus, in
environmental legislation state monitoring service
defined in fact as part of the overall system of environmental control.
Classification of environmental monitoring
Exist different approaches to the classification of monitoring (by the nature of the tasks to be solved, by the levels of organization, by the natural environments that are being monitored). The classification shown in Figure 2 covers the entire block of environmental monitoring, monitoring the changing abiotic component of the biosphere and the response of ecosystems to these changes. Thus, environmental monitoring includes both geophysical and biological aspects, which determines a wide range of research methods and techniques used in its implementation.
As already noted, the implementation of environmental monitoring in the Russian Federation is the responsibility of various public services. This leads to some uncertainty (at least for the public) regarding the distribution of responsibilities of civil services and the availability of information about the sources of impact, the state of the environment and natural resources. The situation is aggravated by periodic restructuring of ministries and departments, their mergers and divisions.
At the regional level, environmental monitoring and/or control is usually charged with:
Committee for Ecology (monitoring and control of emissions and discharges
operating enterprises).
Committee for Hydrometeorology and Monitoring (impact, regional and partly
background monitoring).
Sanitary and Epidemiological Service of the Ministry of Health (condition of workers, residential and
recreational areas, the quality of drinking water and food).
Ministry of Natural Resources (primarily geological and
hydrogeological observations).
Enterprises that carry out emissions and discharges into the environment
(monitoring and control of own emissions and discharges).
Various departmental structures (subdivisions of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food, Ministry of Emergency Situations,
Ministry of Fuel and Energy, water and sewer enterprises, etc.)
In order to effectively use the information already received by public services, it is important to know exactly the functions of each of them in the field of environmental monitoring (Taol_ 2).
Powerful professional forces are involved in the system of official environmental monitoring. Is there still a need for public environmental monitoring? Is there a place for it in the general monitoring system that exists in the Russian Federation?
In order to answer these questions, let's consider the levels of environmental monitoring adopted in Russia (Fig. 4).
Ideally, an impact monitoring system should accumulate and analyze detailed information about specific sources of pollution and their impact on the environment. But in the system that has developed in the Russian Federation, information about the activities of enterprises and the state of the environment in the zone of their influence is mostly averaged or based on statements by the enterprises themselves. Most of the available materials reflect the nature of the dispersion of pollutants in air and water, established using model calculations, and the results of measurements (quarterly - for water, annual or less frequent - for air). The state of the environment is sufficiently fully described only in large cities and industrial zones.
In the field of regional monitoring, observations are carried out mainly by Roshydromet, which has an extensive network, as well as by some departments (agrochemical service of the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Sewerage Service, etc.) And, finally, there is a network of background monitoring carried out within the framework of the MAB (Man and Biosphere) program. Small towns and numerous settlements, the vast majority of diffuse pollution sources. The monitoring of the state of the aquatic environment, organized primarily by Roshydromet and, to some extent, by the sanitary and epidemiological (SES) and communal (Vodokanal) services, does not cover the vast majority of small rivers. At the same time, it is known that< загрязнение больших рек в значительной части обусловлено вкладом разветвленной сети их притоков и хозяйственной деятельностью в водосборе. В условиях сокращения общего числ; постов наблюдений очевидно, что государство в настоящее время не располагает ресурсами для организации сколько-нибудь эффективной системы мониторинга состояния малых рек.
Thus, white spots are clearly marked on the ecological map, where systematically! observations are not made. Moreover, within the framework of the state environmental monitoring network, there are no prerequisites for their organization in these places. It is these blind spots that can (and often should) become objects of public environmental monitoring. The practical orientation of monitoring, concentration of efforts on local problems, combined with a well-thought-out scheme and correct interpretation of the data obtained, make it possible to effectively use the resources available to the public. In addition, these features of public monitoring create serious prerequisites for organizing a constructive dialogue aimed at consolidating the efforts of all participants. Global environmental monitoring system. In 1975 The Global Environmental Monitoring System (GEMS) was organized under the auspices of the UN, but it began to operate effectively only recently. This system consists of 5 interrelated subsystems: the study of climate change, long-range transport of pollutants, hygienic aspects of the environment, the study of the oceans and land resources. There are 22 networks of active stations of the global monitoring system, as well as international and national monitoring systems. One of the main ideas of monitoring is reaching a fundamentally new level of competence when making decisions on a local, regional and global scale.
The concept of public environmental expertise arose in the late 80s and quickly became widespread. The original interpretation of this term was very broad. An independent environmental review meant a variety of ways to obtain and analyze information (environmental monitoring, environmental impact assessment, independent research, etc.). Currently, the concept of public environmental expertise is defined by law. "Ecological expertise" - establishing the compliance of the planned economic and other activities with environmental requirements and the admissibility of the implementation of the object of expertise in order to prevent possible adverse effects of this activity on the environment and related social, economic and other consequences of the implementation of the object of environmental expertise.
Ecological expertise can be state and public. Public environmental expertise is carried out at the initiative of citizens and public organizations (associations), as well as at the initiative of local governments by public organizations (associations).
The objects of the state ecological expertise are:
draft master plans for the development of territories,
all types of urban planning documentation (for example, master plan, building project),
draft schemes for the development of sectors of the national economy,
projects of interstate investment programs, projects of integrated schemes for nature protection, schemes for the protection and use of natural resources (including projects for land use and forest management, materials justifying the transfer of forest lands to non-forest lands),
projects international treaties,
substantiation materials for licenses to carry out activities that can have an impact on the environment,
feasibility studies and projects for construction, reconstruction, expansion, technical re-equipment, conservation and liquidation of organizations and other objects of economic activity, regardless of their estimated cost, departmental affiliation and ownership,
draft technical documentation for new equipment, technology, materials, substances, certified goods and services.
Public ecological expertise may be carried out in relation to the same objects as the state ecological expertise, with the exception of objects, information about which constitutes a state, commercial and (or) other secret protected by law.
The purpose of the environmental review is to prevent possible adverse impacts of the proposed activity on the environment and related socio-economic and other consequences.
According to the Law, ecological expertise is based on the principle of presumption of potential environmental hazard of any planned economic or other activity. This means that the responsibility of the customer (the owner of the proposed activity) is to predict the impact of the proposed activity on the environment and justify the admissibility of this impact. The customer is also required to provide necessary measures for the protection of the environment and it is on him that the burden of proving the environmental safety of the planned activity lies. Foreign experience testifies to the high economic efficiency of environmental expertise. The US Environmental Protection Agency performed a selective analysis of environmental impact reports. In half of the cases studied, there was a decrease total cost projects through the implementation of constructive environmental measures. According to the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, a possible increase in the cost of projects associated with an environmental impact assessment and subsequent consideration of environmental restrictions in working projects pays off in an average of 5-7 years. According to Western experts, the inclusion of environmental factors in the decision-making process even at the design stage turns out to be 3-4 times cheaper than the subsequent one before the installation of treatment equipment. Today, the network of observations of sources of influence and the state of the biosphere already covers the entire globe. The Global Environmental Monitoring System (GEMS) was created by the joint efforts of the world community (the main provisions and goals of the program were formulated in 1974 at the First Intergovernmental Monitoring Meeting).
The priority task was to organize monitoring of environmental pollution and the impact factors causing it.
The monitoring system is implemented at several levels, which correspond to specially developed programs:
impact (study of strong impacts on a local scale in - and);
regional (manifestation of the problems of migration and transformation of pollutants, the combined impact of various factors characteristic of the economy of the region - R);
background (on the basis of biosphere reserves, where any economic activity- F).
The program of impact monitoring can be directed, for example, to the study of discharges or emissions from a particular enterprise. The subject of regional monitoring, as follows from its very name, is the state of the environment within a particular region. Finally, background monitoring, carried out within the framework of the international program Man and the Biosphere, aims to record the background state of the environment, which is necessary for further assessments of the levels of anthropogenic impact.
Observation programs are formed according to the principle of choosing pollutants and their corresponding characteristics. The definition of these pollutions in the organization of monitoring systems depends on the purpose and objectives of specific programs: for example, on a territorial scale, the priority of state monitoring systems is given to cities, drinking water sources and fish spawning grounds; with regard to the observation environments, the atmospheric air and water of fresh water bodies deserve priority attention. The priority of ingredients is determined taking into account criteria that reflect the toxic properties of pollutants, the volumes of their entry into the environment, the characteristics of their transformation, the frequency and magnitude of exposure to humans and biota, the possibility of organizing measurements, and other factors.
State environmental monitoring
GEMS is based on national monitoring systems that operate in various states according to how international requirements, and specific approaches that have developed historically or due to the nature of the most acute environmental problems. International requirements to be met by national GEMS member systems include uniform principles for developing programs (taking into account priority impact factors), obligatory observations of objects of global significance, and transmission of information to the GEMS Center. On the territory of the USSR in the 70s, on the basis of hydrometeorological service stations, the National Service for Observation and Control of the State of the Environment (OGSNK) was organized, built on a hierarchical principle.
Rice. 3. Tray of information in the hierarchical system of OGCOS
In a processed and systematized form, the information obtained is presented in cadastral publications, such as Annual data on the composition and quality of surface waters on land (by hydrochemical and hydrobiological indicators), Yearbook of the state of the atmosphere in cities and industrial centers and others. Until the end of the 1980s, all cadastral publications were marked for official use, then for 3-5 years they were open and available in central libraries. To date, massive collections such as the Annual Data ... are practically not received by libraries. Some materials can be obtained (purchased) from the regional divisions of Roshydromet.
In addition to OGSNK, which is part of the system of Roshydromet (Russian Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring), environmental monitoring is carried out by a number of services, ministries and departments.
Unified state system of environmental monitoring
In order to radically increase the efficiency of work to preserve and improve the state of the environment, ensure human environmental safety in the Russian Federation "On the Creation of the Unified State System of Environmental Monitoring" (EGSEM).
EGSEM solves the following tasks:
development of programs for monitoring the state of the environment (OS) on the territory of Russia, in its certain regions and districts;
organization of observations and measurements of indicators of environmental monitoring objects;
ensuring the reliability and comparability of observational data both in individual regions and districts, and throughout Russia;
collection and processing of observational data;
organizing the storage of observational data, maintaining special data banks characterizing the ecological situation on the territory of Russia and in its individual regions;
harmonization of banks and databases of environmental information with international environmental information systems;
assessment and forecast of the state of environmental protection objects and anthropogenic impacts on them, natural resources, responses of ecosystems and public health to changes in the state of environmental protection systems;
organization and implementation of operational control and precision changes in radioactive and chemical contamination as a result of accidents and catastrophes, as well as forecasting the environmental situation and assessing the damage caused to the OPS;
ensuring the availability of integrated environmental information to a wide range of consumers, including the public, social movements and organizations;
information support of the management bodies of the state of the environmental protection system, natural resources and environmental safety;
development and implementation of a unified scientific and technical policy in the field of environmental monitoring;
creation and improvement of organized, legal, regulatory, methodological, methodological, informational, software-mathematical, hardware and technical support for the functioning of the USSEM.
EGSEM, in turn, includes the following main components:
monitoring of sources of anthropogenic impact on the environment;
monitoring of pollution of the abiotic component of the natural environment;
monitoring of the biotic component of the natural environment;
socio-hygienic monitoring;
ensuring the creation and functioning of environmental information systems.
At the same time, the distribution of functions between the central executive federal authorities is carried out as follows.
State Committee for Ecology: coordination of the activities of ministries and departments, enterprises and organizations in the field of environmental protection monitoring; organization of monitoring of sources of anthropogenic impact on the environment and zones of their direct impact; organization of monitoring of flora and fauna, monitoring of terrestrial fauna and flora (except for forests); ensuring the creation and functioning of environmental information systems; maintenance with interested ministries and departments of data banks on the natural environment, natural resources and their use. Roshydromet: organization of monitoring of the state of the atmosphere, surface waters of land, the marine environment, soils, near-Earth space, including integrated background and space monitoring of the state of the environment; coordination of development and functioning of departmental background monitoring subsystems
environmental pollution; maintenance of the state fund of data on environmental pollution.
Roskomzem: land monitoring.
Ministry of Natural Resources: subsoil monitoring, including monitoring of groundwater and hazardous geological processes; monitoring of the aquatic environment of water management systems and structures in places of catchment and wastewater discharge. Roskomrybolovstvo: monitoring of fish, other animals and plants.
Rosleskhoz: forest monitoring.
Roskartografiya: implementation of topographic, geodetic and cartographic support of the USSEM, including the creation of digital, electronic maps and geographic information systems. Gosgortekhnadzor of Russia: coordination of the development and operation of subsystems for monitoring the geological environment related to the use of subsoil resources at enterprises in the extractive industries; monitoring of industrial safety (with the exception of objects of the Ministry of Defense of Russia and the Ministry of Atomic Energy of Russia). Goskomepidnadzor of Russia: monitoring the impact of environmental factors on the health of the population. Ministry of Defense of Russia; monitoring of OPS and sources of influence on it at military facilities; providing UGSEM with means and systems of dual-use military equipment. Goskomsever of Russia: participation in the development and operation of the USSEM in the regions of the Arctic and the Far North. The technology of unified environmental monitoring (SEM) covers the development and use of means, systems and methods of observation, evaluation and development of recommendations and control actions in the natural and technogenic sphere, forecasts of its evolution, energy, environmental and technological characteristics of the production sector, biomedical and sanitary hygienic conditions of human and biota existence. The complexity of environmental problems, their multidimensionality, closest connection with key sectors of the economy, defense and ensuring the protection of the health and well-being of the population requires a unified systematic approach to solving the problem. Monitoring as a whole is created to prevent various environmental problems, as well as the destruction of ecosystems.
Extermination of species and destruction of ecosystems
Human impact on the biosphere has led to the fact that many species of animals and plants have either disappeared completely or become rare. For mammals and birds, which are easier to count than invertebrates, completely accurate data can be given. For the period from 1600 to the present, 162 species and subspecies of birds have been exterminated by man, and 381 species are threatened with the same fate; among mammals, at least a hundred species have disappeared and 255 are on the way to extinction. The chronology of these sad events is not difficult to trace. In 1627, the last tour, the ancestor of our cattle, died in Poland. In the Middle Ages, this animal could still be found in France. In 1671, the dodo disappeared from the island of Mauritius. In 1870-1880. Boers destroyed two species of South African zebras - Burchell's zebra and quagga. In 1914, the last representative of the passenger pigeon died in the Cincinnati Zoo (USA). A long list of endangered animals could be given. The American bison and the European bison miraculously survived; the Asiatic lion has survived only in one of the forests of India, where only 150 individuals remain; in France every day there are fewer bears and birds of prey.
Extinction of species today
Extinction is a natural process. However, since the advent Agriculture About 10,000 years ago, the rate of extinction of species increased dramatically as humans settled across the globe. According to rough estimates, between 8000 BC. the average rate of extinction of mammals and birds has increased 1,000 times. If we include here the rate of extinction of plant and insect species, then the rate of extinction in 1975 was several hundred species per year. If we take the lower limit of 500,000 extinct species, then by 2010 as a result anthropogenic activities on average, 20,000 species per year will disappear, i.e. a total of 1 species every 30 minutes - a 200-fold increase in the extinction rate in just 25 years. Even average speed If the extinctions at the end of the 20th century are taken as 1000 per year, the total losses will be incomparable with the great mass extinctions of the past. The most publicized is the disappearance of animals. But the extinction of plants from an ecological point of view is more important, since most animal species directly or indirectly depend on plant food. More than 10% of the world's plant species are estimated to be endangered today. By 2010, 16 to 25% of all plant species will disappear.
Principles of a comprehensive characterization of the state of pollution of the natural environment
A comprehensive characterization of the state of pollution comes from the concept of a comprehensive analysis of the environment. The main and obligatory condition of this concept is the consideration of all the main aspects of interactions and relationships in the natural environment and taking into account all aspects of the pollution of natural objects, as well as the behavior of pollutants (pollutants) and the manifestation of their impact.
Program comprehensive research pollution of terrestrial ecosystems
Under the conditions of the increasing load of industrial civilization, environmental pollution is turning into a global factor that determines the development of the natural environment and human health. The prospects for such a development of society are disastrous for the existence of a developed civilization. The proposed program makes it possible to realistically assess the complex of problems associated with the organization of environmental monitoring and plan work to study the pollution of a particular area. The program also set the task of showing that environmental pollution is a real and ubiquitous environmental factor.
Environmental pollution is objective reality and you can't be afraid of it. (An example is radiophobia, i.e. a mental illness associated with a constant fear of radioactive contamination). We must learn to live in the changed environment in a way that reduces the impact of pollution on our health and the health of our neighbors. The formation of an environmental outlook is the main way to fight for the preservation and improvement of the quality of the environment. Usually, in school, extracurricular and university programs of applied ecology, the problems of pollution of water bodies and the oceans are widely discussed. Particular attention is paid to the assessment of the state of reservoirs and local watercourses in terms of environmental and hydrochemical indicators. Numerous programs exist and operate to assess the ecological state of water bodies. This question is well worked out in methodological and scientific terms.
Terrestrial ecosystems, of which man is an integral component, are less studied and in training courses rarely used as model objects. This is due to the much more complex organization of terrestrial biota. When we consider terrestrial ecosystems that are natural or heavily modified by humans, the number of internal and external relationships increases dramatically, the source of pollution or other impact becomes more diffuse, and its impact is more difficult to identify, compared to aquatic ecosystems. The boundaries of ecosystems and territories subject to anthropogenic impact are also blurred. However, it is the state of terrestrial ecosystems, i.e. land area, most noticeably and significantly affects the quality of our lives. The purity of the air we breathe, the food and drinking water we consume, is ultimately linked to the state of pollution of terrestrial ecosystems. Since the mid-1950s, environmental pollution has taken on a global scale - anywhere on the planet you can now find toxic products of our civilization: heavy metals, pesticides and other toxic organic and inorganic compounds. It took 20 years for scientists and governments around the world to realize the need to create a service to control global environmental pollution.
Under the auspices of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), it was decided to establish Global System Monitoring of the Environment (GEMS) with a coordination center in Nairobi (Kenya). At the first intergovernmental meeting, held in 1974 in Nairobi, the main approaches to the creation of integrated background monitoring were adopted. Russia is one of the first countries in the world, on the territory of which, by the mid-80s, a national system of integrated background monitoring of the State Committee for Hydrometeorology was created. The system includes a network of integrated background monitoring stations (ICFM) located in biosphere reserves, on the territory of which systematic monitoring of environmental pollution and the state of flora and fauna is carried out. Now in Russia there are 7 background monitoring stations of the Federal Service of Russia "for hydrometeorology and environmental monitoring, located in biosphere reserves: Prioksko-Terrasny, Central Forest, Voronezh, Astrakhan, Kavkazsky, Barguzinsky and Sikhote-Alinsky.
The SCFM conducts observations of air pollution, precipitation, surface water, soil, vegetation and animals. These observations make it possible to estimate the change in the background pollution of the environment, i.e. pollution caused not by any one or a group of sources, but by the general pollution of a vast territory, caused by the total impact of close (local) and remote sources of pollutants, as well as the general pollution of the planet. On the basis of these data, it is possible to compile a comprehensive characterization of the pollution of the territory.
There is no need for long-term monitoring in order to make a preliminary comprehensive characterization of the pollution of the territory. It is important that when conducting a study, the basic requirements and principles on which the concept of research complexity is built are taken into account.
Principles of complex characteristics of the state of pollution of the natural environment. A comprehensive characterization of the state of pollution comes from the concept of a comprehensive analysis of the environment. The main and obligatory condition of this concept is consideration of all
the main aspects of interactions and relationships in the natural environment and taking into account all aspects of pollution of natural objects, as well as the behavior of pollutants (pollutants) and the manifestation of their impact. With a comprehensive characterization of pollution, pollutants are monitored in all
environments, while great importance attached to the study of the accumulation (accumulation) of a particular pollutant in natural objects or certain landscapes, its transition (translocation) from one natural environment to another and the changes (effects) caused by it. The ongoing comprehensive studies of pollution are designed to determine the source of pollution, assess its power and impact time, and find ways to improve the environment. An approach that takes into account the listed requirements is considered to be complex.
In this regard, there are 4 main principles of complexity:
1. Integrity (observations of total indicators).
2. Multi-environment (observations in the main natural environments).
3. Consistency (recreation of biochemical cycles of pollutants).
4. Multicomponent nature (analysis of various types of pollutants).
When organizing long-term monitoring, special attention is paid to the fifth principle - the unification of analysis methods and the control and assurance of data quality. In the following, we describe each of these principles in detail.
It should be noted that when conducting a comprehensive study, not only purely ecological knowledge and methods, but also knowledge and methods of geography, geophysics, analytical chemistry, programming, etc.
Integrity
A feature of the integral approach is the use of signs of reactions of various natural objects and bioindicators to determine the presence of pollution.
Getting into an unfamiliar area, an observant person, and especially a naturalist, can determine the state of pollution in a given area by indirect features. An unnatural smell, a smoky horizon, gray February snow, an iridescent film on the surface of a reservoir, and many other features will prompt the observer to increased industrial pollution of the area. In the above example, indicators of the state of pollution of the area are non-living (abiotic) objects - surface air, the surface of the snow cover and the reservoir. The most widely used as an abiotic indicator of industrial pollution of the territory is the snow cover and the method of its study - snow survey (one of the manuals of this series will be devoted to this method).
When using an integral approach, special attention is paid to the state of living organisms.
So, it is known that pine is the most vulnerable to air pollution in our zone. At high level air pollution by sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides and other toxic compounds, there is a general lightening of the color of the needles, dry tops, yellowing of the edges of the needles. Juniper dries up in the undergrowth. A few hours after acid rain the edges of the birch leaves turn yellow, the leaves are covered with a gray-yellow bloom or specks. With an abundance of nitrogen oxides in the air, algae rapidly develop on tree trunks, while epiphytic fruticose lichens disappear, etc. The presence of broad-toed crayfish in the reservoir indicates the high purity of the water.
The method of using living organisms as indicators signaling the state of the natural environment is called bioindication, and the living organism itself, the state of which is monitored, is called a bioindicator. In the above examples, living objects served as bioindicators - birch, pine, juniper, epiphytic lichens, broad-toed crayfish.
The use of bioindicators is based on the response of any biological organism to a negative impact. At the same time, the set of reactions to the multiple, integral, negative impact of the environment, as a rule, is very limited. The organism either dies, or leaves (if it can) the given area, or ekes out a miserable existence, which can be determined visually or using various tests and a series of special observations (several manuals of this series are devoted to bioindication techniques).
The selection and use of bioindicators is entirely in line with environmental science, and bioindication is an intensively developing method for studying the results of impacts. For example, various plants are widely used in air quality observations. In the forest, in each tier, certain types of plants can be distinguished, reacting in their own way to the state of environmental pollution.
Thus, integral approach is to use natural objects as indicators of environmental pollution.
At the same time, it is often completely unclear what specific substance was the cause of a particular effect, and it is impossible to draw conclusions about a direct relationship between the indicator species and the pollutant. The peculiarity of the integral approach lies precisely in the fact that this or that indicator object only signals to us that something is wrong in a given area. The use of bioindicators to characterize the state of pollution makes it possible to effectively (i.e. quickly and cheaply) determine the presence of a general, integral impact of pollution on the environment and make only preliminary ideas about the chemical nature of pollution. Unfortunately, to accurately determine chemical composition pollutants using bioindication methods is impossible. In order to specifically determine which substance or group of substances has the most detrimental effect, it is necessary to use other research methods. Precise determination of the type of pollutant, its source, and the extent of pollution and spread is impossible without analytical long-term studies in all natural environments.
Multimedia
When conducting monitoring studies, it is important to cover all the main natural environments: the atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere (mainly the soil cover - pedosphere), as well as biota. To analyze the migrations of pollutants, determine the places of their localization and accumulation, and determine the limiting environment, it is necessary to carry out measurements in objects of the main natural environments.
It is especially important to determine the limiting environment, that is, the environment, the pollution of which determines the pollution of all other environments and natural objects. It is also very important to determine the ways of migration of pollutants and the possibilities and coefficients of transition (translocation) of pollutants from one environment (or object) to another. This is the science of geophysics.
The main media (objects) that should be covered when conducting a comprehensive study: air, soil (as part of the lithosphere), surface water and biota. The contamination of each of these media is characterized by the results of analyzes of pollutants in various objects within these media, the choice of which is important for the results and conclusions obtained. To obtain information about the contamination of a particular object, it is required to take a sample for analysis. The main principles to be followed in site selection and sampling are outlined below.
Atmosphere.
The main object by which atmospheric pollution is characterized is the surface layer of air. Air samples for analysis are taken at a level of 1.5 - 2 m from the ground. Air sampling usually consists of pumping it through filters, a sorbent (binder) or measuring device. Special requirements apply to the selection site. Firstly, the site must be open and more than 100 m away from the forest. Measurements under the forest canopy give, as a rule, an underestimated result and characterize the density of crowns more than the level of air pollution. Indirectly, air quality can be judged by the pollution of atmospheric precipitation (mainly snow and rain). Precipitation is taken using large funnels, special sediment collectors or simply basins, only at the moment of precipitation and at the point of air sampling. Sometimes dry deposition samples are used to characterize air pollution, i.e. solid dust particles constantly deposited on the underlying surface. Methodically it's quite difficult task, which, however, is quite simply solved by the snow survey method.
surface waters.
The main objects of study are small (local) rivers and lakes.
When sampling, special attention should be paid to the fact that water sampling should be carried out 15 - 30 cm below the water table. This is due to the fact that the surface film is a boundary medium between air and water, and the concentrations of most pollutants in it are 10–100 or more times higher than in the water column itself. The pollution of stagnant water bodies can be judged by bottom sediments. When sampling, it is important to consider the season in which the sampling takes place. There are 4 main seasonal periods: winter and summer low water (minimum level) and spring and autumn floods (maximum level). In low water, water levels in reservoirs are minimal, because. there is no water inflow with precipitation, or the amount of precipitation is less than evaporation. During these periods, the role of groundwater and groundwater in nutrition is the greatest. During periods of floods, the water level in reservoirs and streams rises, especially in spring, during the flood period. During these periods, rain food and food due to snowmelt make up the maximum share. In this case, the surface washout of soil particles and pollutants with them into rivers and lakes occurs. For small rivers and streams, rain floods are also distinguished, characterized by an increase in the water level for several hours or days after the rain, which plays a significant role in the washout of pollutants from the surrounding areas. The state of the water level in reservoirs is important to take into account due to the fact that by the period in which the concentration of pollutants in the water is higher, one can judge its source. If the concentration in the low water is higher than in the flood or practically does not change, then pollutants enter the watercourse with ground and groundwater, if vice versa - with precipitation from the atmosphere and washout from the underlying surface.
Lithosphere (pedosphere).
The main object characterizing the contamination of the underlying surface is the soil, especially its upper 5 centimeters. In this regard, in most studies, only this upper layer is selected to characterize soil contamination.
When taking soil samples, it is important to identify autochthonous, that is, indigenous, ecosystems formed on elevated areas of the indigenous coast (plakor). Soil contamination in these areas is indicative of a typical state of contamination. As a rule, these are watershed primary forests and raised bogs. It is also necessary to carry out studies of soils in accumulative landscapes located in depressions and absorbing pollution from vast areas.
Biota.
The concept of biota includes objects of flora and fauna living in the study area.
On the example of these objects, the content of pollutants that tend to accumulate in plants and animals is controlled, that is, substances whose content in biological objects is higher than in abiotic environments. This phenomenon is called bioaccumulation.
The root cause of bioaccumulation is that the entry of a pollutant into a living object is much easier than its removal or decomposition. For example, the radioactive metal strontium (Sr 90) accumulates in the bone tissue of animals, since its properties are very close to calcium, which is the basis of the mineral component of bones. The body confuses these compounds and includes strontium in the bones. Another example is organochlorine pesticides such as DDT. These substances are highly soluble in fats and poorly soluble in water (this property is called lipophilicity in chemistry). As a result, substances from the intestine do not enter the blood, but into the lymph. With the blood, toxic substances would be delivered to the liver and kidneys - the organs responsible for the decomposition and elimination of toxic substances from the body. Once in the lymph, these substances are distributed throughout the body and dissolved in fats. Thus, a store of toxic substances in fats is created. Animals and plants also accumulate heavy metals, radionuclides, toxic organic compounds (pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls). These compounds are present in animals and plants in ultra-low concentrations (less than 10 mg/kg), which require the use of sophisticated analytical equipment.
Consistency
In part, we have already talked about the need to take into account the relationship between media and objects when sampling.
An ideal research system should be able to trace the path of the pollutant from the source to the sink, and from the exit point to the target (object of influence). The monitoring system should work in such a way that, by studying the interactions between environments, it can describe the paths of the biochemical circulation of substances. For this, a systematic approach is used, which allows creating transfer models.
On land, the atmosphere is the main pathway for the propagation and transport of pollutants. The intake of substances is associated with their concentration in the air and precipitation from the atmosphere with precipitation and dry fallout. The removal occurs by rivers, streams and surface washout during the period of snowmelt and rain. There may not be any removal outside the territory, and substances accumulate in the so-called accumulative landscapes - lowland swamps, depressions, ravines and lakes. To link all the examined components into a single system, it is necessary to collect the parameters of the main abiotic and biotic indicators of objects and ecosystems as a whole.
The main abiotic indicators are:
Climatic:
1) Air temperature and pressure - to bring the volume of pumped air during sampling to normal conditions, as well as to simulate the process of pollutant transfer.
2) Wind speed and direction - ways of pollutant transfer from the source, identification of the source, modeling of the transfer process, monitoring of the release from the enterprise (source).
3) Amount of precipitation - calculation of precipitation of pollutants from the atmosphere. Hydrological: water level, flow rate and runoff volume -
necessary to determine the time of sampling and calculate the volume of pollutant removal and determine the source (path of entry).
Soil: soil volumetric weight, type and genetic horizons, mechanical composition. All this must be investigated to determine the density of pollution and the biological capacity of soils. It is also important to take into account the aeration, drainage and watering of the soil. These indicators characterize the intensity of decontamination of pollutants. For example, under anaerobic conditions (reducing reactions predominate in the soil without access to oxygen) and under conditions of increased moisture (signified by traces of gleying on the soil profile), most pesticides and other complex hydrocarbons (for example, polychlorinated biphenyls) are rather quickly decomposed or consumed by anaerobic microorganisms. Biotic parameters: key ecosystem parameters are collected to detect the effect of pollution and to calculate biogeochemical cycles and translocations of pollutants in ecosystems. The main parameters are: productivity, litter, total biomass and phytomass. An important characteristic that is used in the organization of long-term monitoring of the state of natural ecosystems is the rate of litter decomposition. Special tests have been developed to control the rate of decomposition. With a high level of pollution, the rate of decomposition of the litter decreases.
Multicomponent
Modern industry and agriculture use great amount toxic compounds and elements and, accordingly, are powerful sources of environmental pollution. Many of them are xenobiotics, i.e. synthetic substances that are not characteristic of living nature. The reason for the deterioration of the ecological situation and the oppression of biota can be any of the substances. Until recently, control over the entire spectrum of pollutants was practically impossible. Development trends analytical methods and instruments have led to the fact that now it is quite possible to obtain information about ultra-low concentrations of almost all substances. However, these devices are too expensive for widespread implementation in practice, and there is no need for this. It is enough to single out the most dangerous or most informative substances, and carry out thorough control over them. In this case, of course, one has to put up with the instrumental methods of analysis available.
The GEMS program identifies the main, most dangerous (priority) pollutants and the most important media for their control (Table 1). The higher the priority class, the higher their danger to the biosphere and the more thorough the control.
Data on the main priority pollutants are necessary and sufficient for a comprehensive characterization of the pollution of the territory. Many of them are indicative of a whole class of pollutants. Conventionally, pollutants can be divided into 3 types according to their behavior in the natural environment:
1. Substances that are not prone to accumulation in natural environments and to the transition from one environment to another (translocation). As a rule, these are gaseous compounds.
The priority medium for observations is air.
2. Substances partially prone to accumulation, mainly in abiotic environments, as well as migrating in various environments. These substances include nitrates and other fertilizers, some pesticides, petroleum products, etc.
The priority environment is natural waters, soil.
3. Substances that accumulate in animate and inanimate nature and are included in the biogeochemical cycles of ecosystems. This group includes the most dangerous substances for the organism of animals and humans - pesticides, dioxins, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), heavy metals.
The priority environment is soils and biota.
The type (or level) of the surveillance program indicates the extent of the pollutant's spread.
The impact (local) level indicates that the pollutant is dangerous only close to the source (large city, factory, etc.). At a considerable distance, pollution levels are not dangerous.
The regional level means that dangerous levels of pollution can be created in certain regions over a sufficiently large area.
With a base or global level pollution has assumed planetary proportions.
Table 1. Classification of priority pollutants
Note: I - impact, R - regional, B - basic (global).
Where to start with a comprehensive characterization of pollution?
Starting to create a system of local monitoring of environmental pollution, one should:
1) Clearly define the study area.
2) After that, it is necessary to determine the near and remote sources of pollution. This work is called - inventory of sources of pollution. To carry it out, it is necessary to determine the existing and other possible sources of pollution and substances that can be emitted by these sources on the territory of your residence and (or) research, as well as to estimate the volume of emissions of emitted pollutants (power of sources). Sources, at the same time, are divided into point and area sources. Point, or organized, sources are localized on the ground, i.e. have a defined ejection point, for example, in the form of a pipe. These can be industrial enterprises, houses with stove heating, boiler rooms, landfills.
Areal, or unorganized, sources do not have a specific pipe - pollutants are emitted along certain area. These are highways and railways, agricultural land where fertilizers and pesticides are used, forest land that can be treated with insecticides and defoliants.
There are local sources, i.e. located in the study area or within 10-20 km from it and regional, located 50-200 km away. At the same time, you should try to evaluate the sources and identify the most powerful ones that determine the level of pollution in your area.
For example, the zone of influence of a point regional source, the Monchegorsk Severonikel mining plant, extends over a territory of more than 100 km. In the area up to 20 km from the plant, all vegetation was burned by acid precipitation, with the exception of the most resistant mosses, and the contamination of soils and, accordingly, mushrooms and berries with heavy metals spreads within a radius of 50 km from the plant.
In such cases, smaller sources of heavy metals and sulfur compounds have little or no effect on the overall pollution pattern, since completely suppressed by a more powerful source. The measurement results will thus be determined by the meteorological factors of pollutant transfer and the intensity of the plant's emissions.
It is also important to pay attention to the ways in which pollutants spread. Substances from a source to the environment may be emitted to the atmosphere or discharged to a watercourse or sewer. Source inventory is a painstaking and difficult job. However, a successful inventory of sources promises half the success of your undertaking. You can get the necessary information about the sources and power of emissions from local environmental committees. Each industrial facility that emits products of its activities into the environment has an environmental passport and is obliged to conduct an inventory of pollution sources on its territory. 3) At the third stage, using the knowledge and techniques of bioindication, one should try to detect effects. 4) The fourth stage includes a comprehensive survey of all environments based on your existing measuring instruments. Here, at first, simple tablet studies, such as snow measurements and analysis of snow samples for the content and composition of particulate matter and the concentration of hydrogen ions (pH), will be of great benefit. After the examination, you can already judge the degree of industrial and agricultural pollution in your area and determine the most significant sources of pollution.
5) After that, you can start under-flare observations and organize monitoring of the activities of a particular enterprise that makes the maximum contribution to the pollution of your area. The essence of underflare observations is that in the direction of the prevailing winds at an equal distance from the source, information collection points (points) are laid. At the same time, it is good to combine various research methods - chemical, biological (for example, bioindication), geographical, etc. On the windward side, at some distance from the source, it is also necessary to lay an observation point that will play the role of a control point, but only if it is not located on the windward side of another equally powerful source. Comparing the results obtained by lee points located at different distances from the source between themselves and with the control point, you can clearly show the impact of this enterprise on the state of the environment and determine the area of its impact.
Of course, with a limited number of observations, you will not be able to recreate biogeochemical cycles. This task is only possible for large scientific teams, however, you will already be able to judge the level of pollution and the sources that make the maximum contribution to the pollution of the natural environment in your area. The ultimate goal of conducting a comprehensive survey of the territory is to assess the state of pollution in your area. The assessment includes a comparison of pollution levels in your area with other areas, the usual, background levels of pollution for selected pollutants, and determining the strength of the impact and the compliance of the quality of the environment with accepted maximum allowable standards. Unfortunately, environmental standards have not been fully developed and it is often necessary to use only the sanitary and hygienic standards listed in the list of additional literature. You can get acquainted with the background levels in local SES, environmental committees and in the yearbooks of Roshydromet.
References:
"Program of Comprehensive Study of Pollution of Terrestrial Ecosystems (Introduction to the Problem of Environmental Monitoring)" Yu.A. Buivolov, A.S. Bogolyubov, M.: Ecosystem, 1997.
