Polluted Places

N O M I N A T I O N / I N I T I A L R E P O R T
(Published March, 2005)

Karabash, Russia

Site Description
Human Exposure & Health Impact
Site Progress

Site Description

Location & Size of Site
The smelter town of Karabash lies in the Chelyabinskaya region of the south Urals, 1,300 kilometers southeast of Moscow. The town originally developed due to large copper deposits and in 1910 a smelter was built here specializing in the production of 'blister copper'. Immense sulfur dioxide emissions, fall-out of metal-rich particulates and mounds of black slag are thought to be responsible for higher incidences of birth defects, skin diseases and internal organ failure among the residents of this town.

Contaminant Type, Source & Quantity
Air emissions -

Sulfur dioxide

Metal rich particulates: Tests done on airborne total suspended particulates (TSP) in downwind samples were found to be 100% respirable. A high proportion of samples contained lead, zinc, cadmium and arsenic in a readily bioavailable form.

These have not been documented, but are commonly found in copper smelting sites:      o Arsine
     o Dioxins
     o Copper & Iron oxides

Wastewater -

Acid drainage from abandoned mine workings

Leachates from disused waste dumps and tailings dams

These have not been documented, but are commonly found in copper smelting sites:      o Suspended solids, including copper, lead, cadmium, zinc, arsenic, mercury
     o Residues of mold release agents (lime or aluminum oxides)
     o Fluoride
     o Lower pH waste water

Soil -

Heavy metals, such as lead, mercury, arsenic

Smelting process usually produces less than 3 tons of solid waste per ton of copper produced

Transmission Pathways
Air: The smelter releases enormous amounts of sulfur dioxide and metal-rich particulates

Water: Effluents from the smelter, leachates from waste dumps and tailings dams and acid mine drainage contaminate the surface and groundwater that maybe a drinking water resource.

Soil: Contaminated dust and from solid waste

Human Exposure & Health Impact

Number of Potentially Affected People
16,309

Health Impact of Pollutant
The results of a survey conducted by the Chelyabinsk Provincial Institute for Public Health and Environment in 1994 in Karabash were so bad that the provincial Ministry for the Environment classified it as an "Ecological Disaster Zone". They found that children from Karabash:

were considerably smaller than children from the control group;

had 3.5 times more birth defects;

2.7 times more skin diseases (streptodermia - a purulent skin disorder 10 times more);

2.1 times more diseases of the digestive organs;

Suffered from heavy metal poisoning.

Site Progress
October 2004: This site was reviewed by the Technical Advisory Board. Blacksmith Institute will visit this site.

February 2005: This site was visited by Blacksmith Institute. The health effects to the local population caused by the smelter were partly acknowledged by health and municipal authorities. The issues of priority here are relocating people living in the buffer zone elsewhere and installation of pollution control devices in the smelter.