The cleanest and most comfortable city in Belarus was chosen. The dirtiest and cleanest cities in Belarus Rating of cities in Belarus by ecology
Belarus is among the world leaders in the share of deaths due to air pollution. At the same time, we are far from being in first place in terms of emissions. Olga Krukovskaya, a researcher at the Laboratory of Transboundary Pollution at the Institute of Environmental Management of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, told TUT.BY about what we breathe and how it affects our health. She is confident that air quality data can be used in your life in the same way as a weather forecast.
The more pollution, the higher the chance of getting sick
According to WHO, Belarus ranks third in the world in terms of relative mortality from diseases caused by air pollution. In our country, due to such diseases, for example, in 2012 died 100 people per 100 thousand population.
Experts associate deaths from stroke, lung cancer, and cardiovascular diseases with air pollution. Pollution also increases the risk of acute respiratory infections.
“Almost all air pollutants have a number of proven long-term effects,” says Olga. — There is also a carcinogenic effect, mutagenic, effects on the cardiovascular and nervous systems.
There are groups of people who are particularly sensitive to increased air pollution. These are people with respiratory diseases, asthma, cardiovascular diseases, the elderly and children. Scientific studies have shown that increased concentrations to which pregnant women are exposed affect the incidence of asthma in unborn children.
Not all people who breathe polluted air get sick. However, over time, the likelihood of diseases accumulates.
— If we are talking about a carcinogenic effect, the disease may or may not appear. But the longer you are exposed to harmful effects, the greater the excess of various substances, the greater the likelihood.
It's the same with asthma and other diseases. A person in good health will be less harmed by polluted air. On the other hand, if some process is already present, it can accelerate and cause chronic diseases of the respiratory system.
What we breathe
Typically, specialists monitor the content of 6 main substances in the air: particulate matter, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, phenol and ammonia. Some cities monitor specific substances.
— All these substances affect health in one way or another. The threshold concept is now accepted: we believe that substances are safe up to a certain concentration and harmful above a certain threshold.
When talking about human health impacts, ground-level ozone and particulate matter are considered first.
Particulate matter- This is, by and large, dust. The total number of particles and their mass are measured. Large and small particles with a diameter of less than 10 and less than 2.5 micrometers are taken into account separately. Particulate matter of varying composition and size enters the air from different sources. Large particulate matter in the air, for example, comes from construction work and road and tire wear. Fine particulate matter is a product of the combustion of wood, coal or other fossil fuels, as well as the result of industrial processes.
Ozone(O 3) is formed in the atmosphere as a result of photochemical reactions in the presence of nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds.
“There are not many processes during which ozone is released into the air,” the specialist notes. — For example, this happens during photocopying. This is negligible on a national scale. However, we have problems with air pollution from this substance.
Carbon monoxide(CO, carbon monoxide) is formed as a result of incomplete combustion of fossil fuels when there is a lack of oxygen and low temperature. Reduces maximum physical performance and also negatively affects people with cardiovascular disease.
Nitrogen dioxide(NO 2) is formed during combustion processes - during heating, electricity generation, and engine operation. Its high concentrations in the atmosphere are associated with decreased lung function. Nitrogen dioxide also produces fine particulate matter and nitrogen in the atmosphere.
Sulfur dioxide(SO2) is produced when fossil fuels (coal and oil) are burned to heat homes and cars. This substance may affect the respiratory system and lung function and cause eye irritation. On days with elevated SO2 concentrations, heart disease hospitalizations and mortality rates increase. When SO 2 combines with water, it forms sulfurous acid, which is the main component of acid rain.
Phenol found in industrial emissions, exhaust gases, and cigarette smoke. This substance has a general toxic effect, causes disruption of the cardiovascular system, and is irritating to the skin.
The dirtiest and cleanest cities
According to Olga, the situation with air pollution in Belarus is far from catastrophic, especially compared to China or European countries. However, in some cities there are excesses of the norms. Traditionally, Gomel, Mogilev and some areas of Minsk are considered problematic.
- How do we know this? We have an atmospheric air monitoring system in our country - 66 stations in 19 cities. They are placed in such a way as to characterize the situation in an area or city on average.
Stations regularly measure air quality, their data leads to average values and regularly publish.
— In Minsk the situation is now better than in previous years. The area where there is traditionally high pollution is around Radialnaya Street, the Minsk Motor Plant, and the sparkling wine factory,” says Olga. — Quite good air in the observatory area, in Zeleny Lug and most residential areas.
In 2016, the capital recorded one-time exceedances of the established maximum permissible concentrations for three indicators - carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter.
In Gomel, over the course of the year, there were 35 days with carbon monoxide levels exceeding the norm. The specialist considers the indicator quite understandable - there are many industrial facilities in this city.
In Mogilev, phenol content exceeded the norm for 33 days, and ammonia for another 16 days. Novopolotsk turned out to be the leader in the number of days with excess sulfur dioxide (16 days) and particulate matter (8 days). This is a consequence of the fact that oil refineries are located near the city.
Minsk is one of the most dirty cities Belarus. Photo: TUT.BY Not a single day was the single standard for the content of the main pollutants exceeded in Bobruisk, Grodno and Svetlogorsk. That’s right - in Bobruisk there were excesses of strict norms for average annual concentrations, but the stations did not record violations of maximum one-time concentrations.
— It is possible that the average annual concentration is within the normal range, but the number of days when the average daily maximum permissible concentration is exceeded is quite high. Or the average annual concentration falls, and the number of days exceeding the maximum one-time thresholds increases. This is a rather complex system, and complex processes take place in it that cannot be described by one indicator,” notes Olga.
If the norms are exceeded, it is better to reduce active loads
By the way, you can monitor online the air condition in Minsk, regional centers, Polotsk, Novopolotsk, Zhlobin, Soligorsk and Mozyr region. Information place on the website of the Republican Center for Hydrometeorology, Radioactive Pollution Control and Environmental Monitoring of the Ministry of Natural Resources of Belarus.
Data is updated every hour, and for Minsk - every 20 minutes. The monitoring system provides data on individual substances in fractions of the maximum permissible concentration. If less than one- everything is fine, if it’s more, it’s worth thinking about.
PM10 is large particulate matter. 0.5 MPC means that their concentration in the air was half the maximum permissible. This means that at midnight in the Radialnaya area it was possible to breathe deeply (at least in terms of particulate matter). Image: rad.org.by / Yandex. Cards Depending on how polluted the air is, you can plan your day.
— There is only one recommendation, and it’s simple. The only thing we can do if it is exceeded is to reduce active loads in the fresh air, advises Olga. — In case of slight excesses, this applies only to sensitive groups of people; if the level is high, it concerns everyone.
I strongly do not recommend running outside when any of the indicators is greater than one. When we give the body a load, we breathe deeper, particles penetrate deeper, processes happen faster and the impact is more acute. Nobody says you need to wear a gas mask, but you should try not to run.
The degree of air pollution depends on the time of day. Peak levels of ozone and formaldehyde occur during the daytime hours. The maximum of nitrogen and carbon oxides corresponds to rush hours ground transport. It is at this time that the specialist advises to avoid active outdoor activities.
Which apartments have cleaner air?
It is worth paying attention to air quality when choosing a place to live. For example, if there are no factory pipes nearby, then it is better to choose the upper floors of houses.
— In Minsk, the source of more than 70% of emissions is transport, if we take the amount of substances. Transport is a low ground source. Therefore, on the upper floors the concentration of polluted air will decrease. Above the third floor is already good.
Another general rule- windows to the courtyard are better than windows to the roadway. But even if you live on the ground floor and your windows overlook a busy road, the pollution will not always “stagnate.”
- This can be understood this way: compare the width of the gap between the houses and the height of the building. If the width of the gap is greater than the height of the building, then there is a high probability that the air quality will be acceptable. It’s bad when high-rise buildings are close together.
When the distance between houses is greater than their height, polluted air is less likely to linger near the ground. Image: Yandex. Panoramas 
But on such narrow streets, the air on the lower floors can be dirty. Image: Yandex. Panoramas “These are mostly not our emissions.”
Polluted air does not always mean a bad smell. Some hazardous substances impossible to notice without special equipment.
- Formaldehyde can be smelled - it has a specific formaldehyde smell. You can smell sulfur. The remaining substances in the concentrations in which they are contained in the air do not smell much - at least inorganic ones, says Olga.
Air pollution is influenced by many factors: industrial emissions, city layout, how emissions are distributed in the air and how substances interact with each other, atmospheric circulation.
— What we throw away does not always end up with us. Therefore, if we look at what is deposited in our country, for the most part it is not our emissions. Mostly our substances fall out from neighboring countries - from Poland, Russia and Ukraine. But the list of countries that, in principle, influence us is very large - these are almost all European countries. We influence other countries in the same way. Air has no boundaries.
The list of the dirtiest cities in Belarus is headed by Novopolotsk, Minsk and Grodno.
In total, in the previous year, 53.5 thousand tons of pollutants were released into the atmosphere of Novopolotsk from stationary sources, reports the National Statistical Committee.
Thus, in 2013, each resident of Novopolotsk accounted for 498 kilograms of pollutant emissions into the air. Minsk is in second place with an indicator of 25 thousand tons. But in terms of one resident of the capital, compared to Novopolotsk, this figure does not seem so terrible - only 53 kilograms of emissions.
Grodno closes the top three in terms of pollution. In 2013, 11 thousand tons of pollutants were released into the atmosphere of this city. In terms of one resident - 30 kilograms of emissions. The greatest air pollution in Belarus is produced by manufacturing enterprises (43%) and agricultural organizations (29%).
Where is it easier to breathe
As the head of the laboratory of transboundary pollution and climatology of the Institute of Environmental Management of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Belarus, Doctor of Technical Sciences Sergei KAKAREKA explained to AiF, it is difficult to name the cleanest and most polluted city. This is due to the dynamism of the air environment, the limited capabilities of measuring urban areas, the presence large quantity air pollutants, as well as the fact that air pollution is influenced not only by emissions of pollutants, but also by meteorological and landscape conditions, and the nature of development.
Perhaps the differences in the state of atmospheric air between districts of the same city are more pronounced than between cities. Thus, in 2013, the content of pollutants in the atmospheric air of most controlled cities was below the permissible standard. In recent years, there has been a steady downward trend in the number of areas with air quality problems in cities. However, in Mogilev there is still a problem of air pollution with nitrogen dioxide, phenol and formaldehyde; during periods of unfavorable weather conditions, their maximum concentrations exceeded quality standards by 2-3 times. The maximum concentrations of formaldehyde in Grodno and Brest exceeded the maximum permissible concentrations by 3-4 times. The air quality in Polotsk and Novopolotsk did not always meet the standards, especially in unfavorable wind directions.
By the way, heat also affects the air quality. Intense solar radiation in combination with high temperature leads to the acceleration of photochemical processes in the surface layer of air. As a result, in addition to pollutants entering the air from anthropogenic and natural sources, a wide range of so-called photooxidants is formed in the atmosphere, of which the best known and, perhaps, the most dangerous is tropospheric ozone.
Ozone has a general toxic, irritating, carcinogenic, mutagenic, and genotoxic effect. It causes fatigue, headaches, nausea, respiratory irritation, chronic bronchitis, asthma attacks and other consequences.
Exposure to ozone is especially dangerous for children. The risk group also includes older people and people with cardiovascular diseases, people with respiratory diseases, and people with high sensitivity to ozone. The maximum content of tropospheric ozone in the air is in the afternoon. Therefore, experts do not recommend being outdoors at this time.
Clear the air
By the way, the air quality in Minsk in the first half of 2014 improved compared to 2012-2013, primarily due to the events for the World Hockey Championship.
Not everyone knows that during the World Hockey Championship in Minsk, the capital's polluting factories operated under adverse weather conditions (AMC). This means that enterprises begin to operate in a cost-effective mode that allows them to reduce environmental pollution. But it is impossible to do this all the time due to various reasons, including financial ones.
It included 112 cities and 22 regional centers. The compilers selected seven criteria that they considered the most important for assessing the standard of living, and, based on official statistics, made several unexpected discoveries, writes Komsomolskaya Pravda in Belarus.
An unexpected discovery was that Minsk was not in first place. It was overtaken by the small town of Zaslavl with a population of about 14 thousand people, which is not far from the capital. However, it overtook it with a very slight difference, and one of the indicators that distinguishes it favorably from Minsk was higher entrepreneurial activity. Perhaps the reason is that taxes and rent in Minsk are higher - so entrepreneurs register more actively outside the capital.
By the way, it is interesting that when a similar study was carried out in Poland, according to its results, the capital also ended up not in first, but in second place. Warsaw was overtaken by the small city of Sopot.
Another interesting observation: the top ten also includes other cities that are located near Minsk - Fanipol, Smolevichi, Logoisk and Dzerzhinsk. They are ahead of all regional cities! Only behind them in the ranking are Brest (in 7th place) and Grodno (in 8th).
— We assumed that the more industry, the higher earnings, which means the better conditions for people’s lives,” said one of the compilers of the city rating, Dmitry Babitsky. - But it turned out that this is not so. Among industrial cities, there are some that are successful and some that are not. We concluded that concentration of production does not guarantee better living conditions.
For example, last place in the ranking among industrial centers occupied Svetlogorsk. He is ranked 104th out of 134. Other industrial cities— Bobruisk, Pinsk, Slutsk, Slonim were also surprised by their low positions: they are in the second half of the ranking, which leads to serious thoughts. Why does this happen to cities that are supposed to be successful?
The reasons may be a not very favorable environmental situation, as well as the fact that these cities are not located on important transport arteries. Those industrial cities that are close to the capital have a higher place in the ranking. Among industrial centers, those in which there are enterprises that produce final products for export occupy a higher place. But those that produce spare parts are in lower places.
Here are the criteria scientists considered most important when assessing cities:
1. Population growth rate from 1989 to 2006.
2. Migration growth for 2005 - 2006. to the population.
3. Average monthly salary.
4. The share of people employed in small enterprises from the total number of employees (according to the authors, this indicator reflects the progressiveness of local authorities and their understanding of the importance of small business development).
5. The share of the economically active population to the total population.
6. The amount of environmental payments for harmful emissions (this indicator allows us to judge the environmental situation in the city).
7. Transport accessibility (distance to administrative, educational, cultural centers, nearby educational institutions).
- Zaslavl
- Minsk
- Fanipol
- Smolevichi
- Logoisk
- Dzerzhinsk
- Brest
- Grodno
- Zhodino
- Columns
- Mogilev
- Vitebsk
- Branch
- Molodechno
- Zhabinka
- g.p. Bolshaya Berestovitsa
- Kobrin
- Novopolotsk
- Gomel
- Narovlya
- Cherikov
- g.p. Round
- Polotsk
- Soligorsk
- Budo-Koshelevo
- Maryina Gorka
- Zhlobin
- Lyakhovichi
- Slavgorod
- Beshenkovichi
- Cherven
- Mozyr
- Borisov
- Ushachi
- Malorita
- Dokshitsy
- High
- g.p. Belynichi
- Kirovsk
- Gorki
- g.p. Loev
- Dyatlovo
- Mstislav
- Baranovichi
- Nesvizh
- Ivatsevichi
- Kopyl
- Smorgon
- Novogrudok
- g.p. Sharkovshchina
- Verkhnedvinsk
- Kamenets
- Klichev
- Volozhin
- Birch
- Rechitsa
- Volkovysk
- g.p. Bragin
- Stolin
- Ostrovets
- g.p. Shumilino
- Old Roads
- Shchuchin
- Beloozersk
- g.p. Glusk
- Kosovo
- Glubokoe
- g.p. Krasnopolye
- Shklov
- Osipovichi
- Svislach
- Bobruisk
- Mikashevichi
- Berezino
- Chausy
- Tolochin
- Miory
- Pinsk
- Ivanovo
- Lepel
- Kalinkovichi
- Luninets
- Chechersk
- Slutsk
- Yelsk
- g.p. Voronovo
- g.p. Karma
- Town
- g.p. Rossony
- Lyuban
- Skidel
- Dobrush
- Drogichin
- Gantsevichi
- Rogachev
- Braslav
- Krupki
- Slonim
- Dubrovno
- Svetlogorsk
- Postavy
- Disna
- g.p. Liozno
- g.p. Zelva
- Zhitkovichi
- Lelchitsy
- g.p. October
- Novolukoml
- Oshmyany
- Pruzhany
- g.p. Karelichi
- Petrikov
- Myadel
- Kletsk
- g.p. Dribin
- Senno
- Krichev
- Vileika
- Baran
- Turov
- Kostyukovichi
- Bykhov
- Bridges
- Berezovka
- Chashniki
- Klimovichi
- Vasilevich
- g.p. Khotimsk.
- Khoiniki
- Davyd-Gorodok
According to experts, subregional centers like Mozyr, Polotsk-Novopolotsk, Pinsk, Glubokoe can to some extent compete with regional centers in the future and become attractive for living.
According to the results of the rating of Belarusian cities conducted by the Center for New Ideas, Minsk is ahead of other Belarusian cities in a number of indicators. Nevertheless, they are rapidly catching up, and in some places ahead of the Belarusian capital Brest and Grodno.
Economic indicators, besides Minsk, are highest in Novopolotsk, Soligorsk, and Mozyr. According to the rating, Orsha, Borisov and Bobruisk were among the demographic and economic outsiders.
Brest and Grodno have potential
As Dmitry Babitsky, senior researcher at CASE Belarus, noted at the Reshape-2018 conference, in recent years Minsk has been losing industry, which is being actively replaced by services.
“The agglomeration ring around Minsk is developing and growing. Most of our employment growth occurs within the boundaries of this ring. Therefore, such objects as Zaslavl, Dzerzhinsk, Smolevichi are now the top places where new jobs are opening,” he said.
The expert drew attention to the fact that in the Minsk region there are more employed people than residents, which in turn is also typical for Soligorsk.
“More than 100 thousand people come to Minsk every day to work from other cities, that is, every tenth person working in Minsk does not live there,” he said.
Dmitry Babitsky also commented on the leading positions that Grodno and Brest occupied in the ranking of the cities of Belarus. The expert cited Poland as an example, where cities such as Gdansk, Szczetin, and Wroclaw are developing more dynamically than Warsaw.
“And even though such a trend is not yet visible in Belarus, Brest, Grodno and a number of other cities have very great potential,” says Dmitry Babitsky.
“Why are Brest and Grodno leading in the ranking? They have a big advantage in that they are located on the border and therefore are strongly involved in cross-border communications, they have constant access to new knowledge, “tricks”, and there are teams there who are trying to implement all this. And most importantly, there is human potential there. Someone opened a coffee shop, a startup followed suit, and this is the future of cities,” noted Ivan Shchedrenok, director of the Interaktsia Foundation, in turn.
Why does Orsha have no chance?
At the same time, experts agree that with a strict vertical power structure, which is typical for Belarus, it is difficult for the regions to develop.
“Our chief fireman and chief doctor are located only in the regional city. Financial flows, both formal and not, correspond to this,” explained Dmitry Babitsky. – All the “fat” is concentrated where the power is, that is, in regional cities or cities like Soligorsk, Novopolotsk, where there are huge enterprises. Therefore, Orsha and Borisov have nothing to hope for, especially considering the lack of universities there.”...
Unfortunately, admits Ivan Shchedrenok, the main objective chapters district center is to give indicators.
“His headache is how to increase milk production and harvest more crops. And for the city to develop, you need to think about how to make it competitive,” the expert believes.
Ivan Shchedrenok admits that the local authorities have no time to deal with these issues, and they are not capable of doing so.
“The whole system works like this: there is a strict vertical, and the decisions that are made are made by the center, as a result, not strategists, but executors sit in the seats. This, in my opinion, is the biggest problem from the point of view of city management,” the expert is confident.
How will agglomerations develop?
In the opinion of Ivan Shchedrenok, cities like Mozyr, Polotsk-Novopolotsk, Pinsk, Glubokoye are sub-regional centers that can, to some extent, compete with regional cities and, to some extent, they are also the future. This means that they also have every chance of becoming attractive for living.
“I am not a supporter of collapsing the country into one city. If a reform of the administrative-territorial division takes place in Belarus, I am sure that the focus will be on forming agglomerations. The main thing is that these agglomerations become the centers of those subregions that are being formed in the country,” he concluded.
13:23 / 04.04.2018
A strong opinion has emerged, I would say a stereotype, about the ecological purity of our “blue-eyed” part, especially its rural part. It is believed that here, in the outback, far from large industrial centers with their harmful emissions and gas pollution, there is the best ecology. Live and be happy!Is the eco-friendly hinterland really that clean?
I would like to talk about ecology using the example of not the whole country and not even the Ostrovets region, but, so to speak, the area of residence. My family lives on the territory of the Sorochansky Lakes reserve. It would seem, what kind of environmental problems could there be here, in the pearl of one of the five cleanest regions of Belarus? Unfortunately, they exist, and quite a lot...
Previously, I viewed issues of environmental pollution more from an aesthetic point of view: it’s unpleasant to see cigarette butts and plastic bottles among green grass and wildflowers, to observe oil stains on the surface of a river or lake, or smog over the city. We decided to go and live in the outback - on a farm, closer to nature.
What a disappointment we were when, looking around our new place of residence, we saw that everywhere – from the territory of the farmstead to the protected lakes – there were traces of human activity in the form of household waste. But the worst thing is not even this, but the fact that local residents They don’t see the problem: just think, there’s garbage everywhere...
Everyone remembers with nostalgia what nature used to be like: there were a lot of fish, animals in the forest, and birds. And a villager used to be certainly associated with the word “healthy”. And even now, many - my family included - faced with environmental problems in cities where it is impossible to independently resolve issues of clean air or noise, choose life in the countryside.
But is today's village ready to provide residents with an ecologically clean living environment? Let's speculate...
AIR
EARTH
WATER
Belarus is a land of lakes and rivers, inexhaustible underground sources.
What's the reality? According to the most optimistic data, every third well in Belarus is contaminated with nitrates. And not because farmstead farming in the villages is poorly managed - there is almost none left. The main water pollutants are large livestock farms and fertilizers from fields. Water contaminated with nitrates is transported tens of kilometers from the source. For example: our farm is located in the forest, the nearest field is several kilometers away, and so is the farm. There is no subsidiary farm on the site and recent years 10 were not contained before us. However, water samples for nitrates showed a threefold excess of the maximum permissible concentration - and we had to drill a well to provide ourselves clean water. How many villagers know about the quality of water in their wells and how many of them can afford a well?
And there is another disaster for water - as, indeed, for everything else - microplastics. I confess: until last year I did not realize the extent of plastic pollution in water. It would seem, what’s wrong with this plastic? Yes, it’s ugly, yes, it doesn’t decompose for centuries - but is it really that scary? It turned out: scary!
what's happened
microplastic?
Microplastics are often used in cosmetics and personal care products - they are small particles made from various types of plastic. Some of them are large enough to be seen, others are less than one micrometer in size. There are even smaller particles, called nanoparticles.
Plastic particles are included in cosmetics for various reasons. Some of them regulate the viscosity of the product, others help create the effect of “optical blurring” of wrinkles, others are used as scrubs and sun filters, and create a gel- and film-forming effect of the cosmetic product.
Often microplastics help extend the shelf life of a product.
A typical exfoliating shower gel can contain as many microplastic particles as are used to produce the gel's packaging.
In addition, microplastics are formed from the breakdown of plastic packaging when exposed to air.
Last fall, I participated in water sampling to detect microplastics. Water was taken from the Stracha River and Lake Gubeza. Unfortunately, a sample from the river could not be tested for the presence of microplastics due to the high organic content in the water. And in the sample from the lake there was microplastic - and although this is one of the best indicators for the water bodies of Belarus in which volunteers took samples, it is there.
This is what “harmless” garbage leads to along the banks of rivers and lakes...
And this is the work of the people who live here, nearby.
FOOD
Where are they grown? On the same contaminated land, they are watered with nitrate water. And who in the villages now produces food even for themselves - not to mention selling the surplus? Yes, the older generation, out of habit, tries to run the household - but these workaholics, unfortunately, leave. And their children and grandchildren have long realized that it is easier to buy food in a store. Sometimes guests of our farmstead are interested: where can they buy homemade cottage cheese, sour cream, butter? In response, we just shrug our shoulders...Until recently, I believed that in order for people to stay in the village or move here for permanent residence, it is necessary to provide them with work and create conditions for comfortable stay. And now I am sure that the main thing is to live without destroying nature. And this applies not only to life in the village, but to a successful life in general.
So that forests have time to clean the air.
So that water can be drunk from the river, and not passed through complex filters, resulting in, in fact, already dead water.
So that our descendants will inherit a nature that is purer and richer than you and I.
If, of course, this is possible...