On the representativeness of hygienic and sanitary data

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Abstract

Hygienic and sanitary research, as a rule, are related to the selective control. In this case, the decision on the quantitative characteristics of environmental factors or public health is based on the results of checking one or more selections of samples, and environmental quality is assessed by comparing the values of these characteristics with standards, primarily – maximum allowable concentrations of pollutants. Strict legal regulation of such work is necessary, but the current regulatory documents are incomplete and even contradictory. There are erroneous decisions due to unrepresentativeness, not only to the insufficient amount of initial data, but also to their unsatisfactory processing. The consequence of such decisions is unjustified requirements for enterprises that pollute the environment, charging inflated payments for a negative impact on the environment, etc. Using the example of monitoring for highly variable indicators of the quality of natural and waste waters, showed that in order to make a correct conclusion about the fulfillment or violation of hygienic and sanitary requirements, based on a comparison of several samples, it is necessary to equalize their statistical weights. Violation of this condition can lead to the dependence, oriented in one direction in stratified datasets, will acquire the opposite direction after their summation. In preventing such errors, the role of territorial bodies of sanitary and epidemiological control and supervision is essential.

Compliance with ethical standards: the article does not deal with issues regulated by ethical standards.

Contribution. All co-authors made an equal contribution to the research and preparation of the article for publication.

Acknowledgment. The work was carried out within the framework of the State Assignment of the Institute of Water Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences (subject FMWZ-2022-0002).

Conflict of interest. The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Received: May 31, 2022 / Accepted: December 8, 2022 / Published: March 25, 2023

About the authors

Viktor I. Danilov-Danilyan

Institute of Water Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Author for correspondence.
Email: vidd38@yandex.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0002-5676-3686

MD, PhD, DSci., Corr.-member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Academic Supervisor, Institute of Water Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Water Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 119333, Russian Federation.

e-mail: vidd38@yandex.ru 

Russian Federation

Oleg M. Rosenthal

Institute of Water Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Email: noemail@neicon.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0001-6261-6060
Russian Federation

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