Jensen S, Mazhitova Z, Zetterström R
Department of Environmental Chemistry, Wallenberg Laboratory, Stockholm University, Sweden.
Sci Total Environ. 1997 Nov 5;206(2-3):187-93.
The deterioration of human health with increasing infant mortality rate, declining life expectancy at birth and increasing prevalence of serious infectious diseases in Russia and other former Soviet Republics is thought to be due to a combination of several factors such as inadequate nutrition, poor sanitation, collapse of the health care system and pollution from Soviet agriculture and industries. In the Aral Sea region in Kazakhstan, the environmental problems are of near catastrophic proportions. As a result of the implementation of a massive irrigation scheme to support the cotton fields in the former desert land, the water flow to the Aral Sea was reduced to less than half. Industrial pollutants such as PCB-compounds and heavy metals, but also the use of large quantities of pesticides to control parasites and weeds have accumulated not only in water, but also in soil and have been deposited over large areas by atmospheric transport to enter the food chain leading to humans. In a study of 15 children and of an additional 12 children referred from the region of the Aral Sea to the National Children's Rehabilitation Center in Almaty with symptoms and signs of 'ecological disease', we have found that the concentration of PCB compounds in the blood lipids is elevated in relation to healthy Swedish children. In addition, the blood lipid concentration of the beta-isomer of the hexachlorocyclohexanes was extremely high and of DDT-compounds was elevated up to 20 times. The concentrations of lead in red blood cells was moderately elevated and that of cadmium slightly elevated compared to the findings in Stockholm children. To study the role of these pollutants in the diseases found in children from the Aral Sea region accurate epidemiological studies have to be performed.
在俄罗斯和其他前苏联共和国，随着婴儿死亡率上升、出生时预期寿命下降以及严重传染病患病率增加，人类健康状况恶化，这被认为是由多种因素共同导致的，如营养不足、卫生条件差、医疗保健系统崩溃以及苏联农业和工业造成的污染。在哈萨克斯坦的咸海地区，环境问题已接近灾难性程度。由于实施了一项大规模灌溉计划以支持以前沙漠地区的棉田，流入咸海的水量减少到不足原来的一半。多氯联苯化合物和重金属等工业污染物，以及大量用于控制寄生虫和杂草的农药，不仅在水中积累，也在土壤中积累，并通过大气传输在大片区域沉积，进入食物链并最终影响人类。在一项针对15名儿童以及另外12名从咸海地区转诊至阿拉木图国家儿童康复中心、有“生态病”症状和体征的儿童的研究中，我们发现，与健康的瑞典儿童相比，这些儿童血脂中的多氯联苯化合物浓度有所升高。此外，六氯环己烷β异构体的血脂浓度极高，滴滴涕化合物的浓度升高了20倍。与斯德哥尔摩儿童的研究结果相比，这些儿童红细胞中的铅浓度适度升高，镉浓度略有升高。为了研究这些污染物在咸海地区儿童所患疾病中的作用，必须开展准确的流行病学研究。
