Ukraine At War - But With Pollution

  by Jenna Shin
 For Ukraine, war with Russia is not the only boiling conflict at the hands of political officials and its citizens. In the midst of a battling crisis, Ukraine has been reporting increased industrial pollution produced by the various iron and steel plants located in major cities. One of the reported areas is known as Maripaul, where residents have reported immense amounts of smoke and ash from these factory productions. These iron and steel plants utilize and function off machinery that produces mass amounts of smoke and ash into the air; where citizens of these towns are forced to live with life-threatening air quality. One citizen even reported that she was unable to have children recently, due to various thyroid problems that were caused by the mass production of harmful metals she breathed in. In 2018, studies taken from samples of the smoke revealed that metals such as lead, arsenic, and mercury were present. 
Metal toxicity is one of the most harmful pollutants that is prevalent in our environment today. These pollutants, when seeped into bodies of water or soil, can lead to extreme health concerns and illnesses. Risks include kidney damage, lung damage, brain damage, weakened breathing, anemia, an increased risk in cancer, and possibly even miscarriages; as experienced by a Ukranian citizen. Metal toxicity can be easy to spread to humans, especially for those who drink or interact from lead-lined pipes or work in factories as mentioned earlier in the article. Additionally, these pollutants can also be found in our food, in things like fish that some people eat almost everyday. Although the risks of being affected by heavy metal toxicity and pollution depends on background and history, it is fair enough to conclude that individuals living near heavy production factories like those in Ukraine should be considered high-risk. 

Unfortunately, Ukraine officials have failed to stay persistent in their efforts to reduce factory-emissions of pollutants and toxic metals. However, Ukraine citizens and residents have begun to put in place citizen-installed particulate matter (PM) monitoring stations, a local method of attempting to reduce emissions. Although this is a step forward in the process of saving Ukraine from pollution and toxicity, it is clear that a government or official mandated monitor of factory emissions would tackle the issue more efficiently.