Population Health Risk and Harm Indicators in the System of New Mechanisms for Air Quality Monitoring and Management

Abstract

Introduction: The article dwells on major legislative and methodical aspects related to the latest update of the system for air quality management in the country. Objective: To summarize the experience in applying the health risk assessment procedure to the system of new mechanisms for ambient air quality monitoring and management. Materials and methods: The study relied on the results obtained by summary estimates of dispersion of emissions from 1.5 to 6.5 thousand sources per city and health risk assessment in twelve cities included in the Federal Clean Air Project. We also analyzed the results of biomedical studies (about two thousand chemical, immunological, and clinical tests done in 2020–2022) in and outside the zones of influence of mining and chemical industries. Results: Health risks were estimated as unacceptable in the cities included in the experiment on introducing new emission control technologies. In some cases, risks were rated as “very high” for diseases of the respiratory system, blood and blood-forming organs, musculoskeletal system, etc. We substantiated the lists of priority pollutants for emission monitoring and quoting and the lists of priority objects generating unacceptable risks. We demonstrate that the evaluation of health damage as an indicator of realized risks under certain circumstances can serve as yet another evidence of adverse health effects of environmental pollution. We suggest a fundamental algorithm for including the assessment of human health risks and damages into the system of air quality management for elaboration of the existing regulatory and methodological framework of monitoring and standardization. Conclusions: The procedures of assessing health risks and damages are a significant component of air quality management. Their results ensure adequacy of the monitoring programs to the current situation, make managerial actions more targeted and precise, and guarantee optimal achievement of the major goal to preserve public health through safe and comfortable environment.