Vol 96, No 10 (2017)

The article considers historical, scientific-methodological and organizational aspects of the formation of a new direction for medical science and practical public health care — the "environmental medicine" (EM) for Russia. The strategic goal of the concept of the departmental program for the development of the EM, the tasks of the development of the EM in the implementation of the Climate Doctrine of Russia, the Strategy for the Development of the Arctic Zone of the Russian Federation until 2020 have been determined. The main groups of environmental threats to public health are considered. Approaches to the creation of a system for training medical and scientific personnel in the specialty "environmental medicine" are suggested.

The relevance of the normalization of petroleum hydrocarbons in soil is due, inter alia, to their ubiquity. Negative impacts on soil cover, atmospheric air, surface and groundwaters, ecological systems and public health are noted at all stages of development of oil fields — from drilling to industrial processing, liquidation of equipment and delivery to the consumer. In addition, various technologies for the destruction of oil contamination (re-cultivation, sanitation, etc.) are actively being developed, but they are not widely used, because there is no norm for a safe level of their content for humans and environmental objects. The article deals with problems of hygienic regulation of petroleum hydrocarbons in the soil. Methods are presented for the quantitative determination of oil and oil products in soil, as well as conceptual issues in the system for estimating oil as a soil pollutant. The subordinate legislation, taking into account the lists of pollutants, in respect of which state regulation measures in the field of environmental protection are applied, are sanctified. Toxic oxygen-containing products are shown to be formed asa result of the transformation of the hydrocarbon component of the component composition of the oil. Threshold concentrations of the safe content of petroleum hydrocarbons in the soil in a vegetation experiment (500 mg/kg), water migration — 10,000 mg/kg and a total of 21,000 mg/kg were determined. Priority directions of research on the establishment of a safe level of oil hydrocarbon contamination in the soil according to the airborne migration index of harmfulness, as well as the quantitative determination of petroleum hydrocarbons in agricultural plants are indicated.

Increasing rates of anthropogenic forcing on natural and urban ecosystems in the Arctic requires the development of more detailed environmental monitoring. In this context, studying of contents of background trace elements seems to be actual goal. The goal of this study is an assessment of the content of background heavy metals in natural soils of the Polar Urals (surroundings of mountain Chyornaya), surroundings of Salekhard and foothills of the Polar Urals and urban soils (Kharsaim, Aksarka, Labytnangi, Kharp, Salekhard). Levels of maximum permissible concentrations (MPCs) were established to be exceeded by some elements (As, Ni, Co) in most of soil samples (from both urban and natural environments). It can indicate to high regional background contents for these elements especially in case of natural soils. The highest exceedance of MPCs is typical for soil samples from urban environments. For other studied trace elements (Cu, Zn, Pb, Sr) MPCs are exceeded only in few cases. The highest trace elements content in urban soils is connected with sites with significantly high rates of anthropogenic forcing (chrome-processing factory in Kharp). The highest trace elements content for natural soils can be connected with three soil profile zones: peat-like horizons, stagnic and cryogenic geochemical barriers, and soil horizons with clay texture class. Moreover, we discussed problems of trace elements behavior in conditions of changing climate of the Arctic and permafrost degradation.

Antarctic station “Mirny” was the first Russian (Soviet) polar station in Antarctica. The anthropogenic impact on the primary ground and soil in the area around of this polar station took place more than 60 years. This is reflected in both the chemical composition of the soil and microbial communities. The article shows multiple increasing of the number of bacteria and microscopic fungi in anthropogenic contaminated soils. Contamination of soil leads to changes of the structure of the microbial community. An increasing proportion of mesophilic bacteria isolates (90%) was shown. The increasing share spores and reduced the proportion of microscopic fungi mycelia were observed. Statistical analysis showed that we have identified almost all of the expected species that live in anthropogenic substrates (42 species), as well as in the control soils (17 species). But we identified only a part of fungal diversity in contaminated soils (32 species). The increase in the number of fungal species in the area of the polar station “Mirny” was proved to be connected with the human activity and introduction of new species. Native species of microscopic fungi were found to be able to colonize new materials previously unavailable to them. They also can be agents of active biodegradation of anthropogenic materials. Among fungal species isolated from anthropogenic contaminated soil and anthropogenic substrates more than 80% can be attributed to opportunistic organisms. Therefore the total number of microorganisms (CFU), the structure of the microbial complexes, the species composition of communities, indicator species, morphology and volume of biomass can be considered as an index of changes in soil microbial complexes and primary soils

During the study of the effect of nanoparticles researches aimed at finding out the consequences of their influence on the structural and functional integrity of germ cells, which ensure genetic continuity must occupy the one of the central places. However, in the assessment of the impact of nanosilver on many organs its effect on the testicles in vivo was not studied. That’s why, the aim of the study was to assess in vivo the effect of nanosilver and silver sulfate on the testicle and to determine the correlation between cytogenetic and cytotoxic parameters. The comparative morphological in vivo evaluation of 2-weeks oral exposure of 4 concentrations (0.1; 5; 50 and 500 mg/l) of silver nanoparticles with size of 14.0 nm, stable arabian gum 1:7 by weight, and of 4 similar concentration of silver sulfate on the testicle of mice. The effect of silver nanoparticles and silver sulfate at the concentration of 500 mg/l is shown to lead to a significant increasing of destructured tubules with undifferentiated and depleted spermatic epithelium, significant decreasing in the number of Leydig cells and decreasing trend in the number of spermatidas, spermatozoons and Sertoli cells, which indicates to the inhibition of spermatogenesis in equal measure for both silver nanoparticles and silver sulfate. The pronounced correlation between the increase in the number of spermatidas with apoptosis and decreasing in the number of tubules with spermatozoon, indicating to the mechanism of gonadotoxic action.

The relationships between the capacity of chemicals to cumulate a toxic effect (functional cumulation) and the structure of their molecules were investigated. In the process of substantiation of safe levels (MAC) of substances in water this capacity is characterized by the cumulation hazard class (later in the text — hazard class). This class is stated to be depend on the value of the relationship between the mean lethal dose of the acute experiment and the threshold dose of the chronic experiment. The experimental study of a huge amount of new chemicals in the chronic experiments is a very difficult task, thus the study of the possibility to predict the hazard class of a chemical is of great scientific and practical interest. By using a logical combinatorial method JSM, named in honor of an English logic J.S. Mill, the structural groups in molecules, determining the appurtenance of these chemicals to a hazard class were identified and the possibility of the prediction of the hazard class of a chemical belonging to a definite structural array, containing such structural group were investigated. The training dataset (583 compounds) was automatically derived from the database WATERTOX, containing the data on acute and chronic toxicity for about 2000 substances. The results suggest the JSM method to be limitedly applicable for the determination of a hazard class of an untested chemical using this heterogeneous training dataset because we were unable to unambiguously derive the list of chemicals belonging to the class of moderately hazard substances. The chemical in some cases was predicted to belong to one or other of the neighboring classes. However taking in mind this uncertainty, the accuracy of the method evaluated, when using the “leave-one-out” method was 78%. Nevertheless the JSM method enables us to find structural subgroups “responsible” for the functional cumulation. The relation of the hazard class of a chemical belonging to a definite structural class with its structure and the possibility of the prediction of an untested chemical hazard class are demonstrated. The prognosis of the hazard classes for chemicals belonging to several structural sets including the anthraquinone derivatives, phthalimides, perfluorated aliphatic compounds, chlorosubstituted phenols, phenylureas is performed.

Issues of improving the environment are now among the most important for the population of large administrative and industrial cities. Improving the quality of the environment and creating comfortable living conditions for people using environmentally friendly methods is the one of most up-to-date directions in environmental health. Improving the quality of the internal environment of the premises involves the use of various modern technical life support systems to regulate parameters of the environment. However, existing methods of cleaning and air conditioning of public and industrial premises not only fail to provide the required quality of cleaning, but also can often lead to the appearance of toxic substances, promote deionization of air and deterioration of its quality according to by biological indices. Both to clean and improve the air and give it the properties that are favorable for the life-activity of a person, phytodesign methods are used. The most popular in the gardening of interiors are tropical, subtropical and aromatic plants. Their application is due to their release in the process of vital activity in the environment of biologically active substances — phytoncides, which can improve the air composition, reduce the number of bacteria, fungi, viruses and have a therapeutic effect. Chromatographic-mass-spectrometric studies of the composition of volatile organic components of ether-bearing plants of phytocomposites, when used for artificial illumination of phytolamps with narrow spectral red and blue light, have shown that 26 organic compounds have been identified in the composition of volatile discharges of phytomodule plants grown under natural illumination. The greatest contribution to the component composition of the mixture was made by saturated hydrocarbons (36%). The contribution of oxygen-containing compounds, including phenols, was 13%, aldehydes and cyclic non-aromatic hydrocarbons — 12 and 11% respectively. Despite the usefulness of additional artificial lighting for plants, an increase in the amount of substances has been established with the formation of new compounds and an increase in the total content of the identified substances. There was an increase in the content of toxic phenol (by 14 times), benzaldehyde (by 10 times) and acetophenone (by 7 times). The most hygienic significance was the group of terpenic hydrocarbons, which belongs to the group of readily convertible substances, as well as groups of oxygen-containing compounds (aldehydes, ketones, phenols, ethers), which belong to the naturally occurring entities of the toxic and dangerous groups of chemicals. More than 50% of the identified compounds did not have hygienic standards, it is not possible to assess their danger or safety for human health. The use of ether-bearing plants in closed rooms requires the chemical-analytical control of the composition of volatile emissions and the establishment of optimal conditions (saturation of plants in the room, room volume, the presence of conditioning or ozonizing units, temperature regime, humidity, etc.) in order to provide the chemical safety for human health.

The method of the evaluation of the antioxidant activity (AOA) with a help of stable radical 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl test (DPPH test) widely applied in pharmacological and food chemistry, was used also in some clinic investigations for the assessment of the total activity of serum low-molecular-weight antioxidants, but never was applied earlier for toxicological and environmental studies. We have developed the new modification of DPPH test, by replacing methanol-based incubation medium to non-ionic water detergent solution, compatible with native blood serum. Modified DPPH test was approved in 5 toxicological experiments on laboratory animals (Gig. Sanit., 2016, 9: 884-90) and in the hygienic study of the influence of ambient air pollution on the health state in a cohort of 142 capable Moscow residents (aged of 43.5 ± 11.8 years). As a results of the cohort observation, AOA of human serum in DPPH test had close to the normal distribution without gender differences, the slowly decrease with age by nearly 0.4% per year and was positively associated with serum concentrations of catabolic antioxidant — uric acid (R=0.257; p=0.002). The influence of outdoor air pollution in the points of the persons permanent homes was studied by 2 methods: 1) dividing Moscow territory into 2 zones accordingly the long-term monitoring of Hydrometereology and Environmental Monitoring Service; 2) by cartographic adjustment of corresponding home buildings to the nearest of 46 route stations of Moscow Agency for Health and Consumer Rights. No significant differences was found between residents of 2 preferred city zones in 12 used serum biochemical markers, the results of DPPH test including. Significant correlation exposure-response was found between the variables “serum AOA in DPPH test” and “benzene annual outdoor concentration” (R=0.342; p=0.00003) by individual exposure evaluation according to the data of route stations. Two main independent predictors of serum AOA values in the observed cohort of Moscow residents (outdoor air benzene and serum uric acid concentrations) detected 14 and 8.5 % of AOA total variance (p = 0.000002 and p =0.00018 correspondingly).

On the basis of the analysis and an assessment of publications devoted to the impact of the pollution of atmospheric air on the population’s health and results of own researches in the field of oil processing, petrochemistry, chemistry, metallurgy insufficient informational content and validity of evidential base of “exposition – answer” dependence is established. Methodical questions allowing interpret correctly results of a quantitative assessment of the influence of chemical pollution on the population’s health are considered. The characteristic of informational content, choice criteria of air pollution indices and the state of the population’s health, methods of an assessment and statistical processing of results are given. Advantages of calculated models to study and the description of air pollution are shown.

The purpose of the research is to establish the basic social and hygienic mechanisms of the formation of population health in the Primorsky Krai. The study analyzed the main ecodependent diseases: respiratory diseases, urogenital system, skin in the population residing in model points in the coastal and continental bioclimatic zones of the Primorye Territory with a variety of social and environmental performance. According to the suggested hypothesis of social-hygienic study the prevalence rate of ecodependent pathology in the population of the Primorye Territory is influenced by a complex of unfavorable factors of ecological, climatic and socio-hygienic risk, including the underlying factors or their groups not detected by conventional methods, but capable of to have a significant impact. The results showed regional features of the influence of environmental factors, lifestyle on the health of the major demographic groups living in different bio-climatic, social and environmental conditions of urban and rural areas of the region. The backbone force for all groups is a way of life. For urban residents of the coastal zone there is a significant ecological and social impact of environmental factors, while for rural residents — social and hygienic. Under the complex influence of socio-hygienic and climatic factors on the prevalence rate of ecodependent pathology the level of disease was found to be largely dependent on the specific way of life in the ecological and bio-climatic conditions of the region. Among the not detectable factors of socio-hygienic monitoring, a special place was revealed to be occupied by the socio-psychological peculiarities of the production environment and everyday life, which depend on the social (social and educational prospects, social and material satisfaction, job availability and the possibility of further training, environmental comfort, recreation), and individual features (educational level, the possibility of professional, family and individual psycho-emotional characteristics), which confirms the hypothesis of socially-hygienic research. On the basis of survey data with the using the method of multivariate analysis - correlation Pleiades by Terentyev, it was created “Sociometric model conditionality of the formation of population health in the Primorsky Territory.”

The article based on the analysis and synthesis of scientific works regarding the theory of adaptation offers the detailed description of the development of functional responses of the human organism under the impact of environmental factors. Three types of responses are considered: nonspecific reaction of human organism, specific response of the human organism and response of the human organism to specificity of a factor. The article is focused on form for the rationale for specific response of the human organism. It is due to the fact that in scientific literature in the capacity of such response it is often assumed the response of the human organism to specificity of an operating environmental factor. Development of responses is shown on the basis of a phenome — phenotypical model of the human organism. The model is described by norms of the response of the main systems of human organism and the scheme of an orientation of interaction of these systems among themselves. On its basis the logic of a pathogenesis of noninfectious diseases is considered. The development of both nonspecific, and specific responses of the human organism including responses to the specificity of a factor is show to occur according to the universal stereotypic scheme presented in the article. The purpose and the result of this work is the development of the common theory of adaptation of human organism to the impact of environmental factors. Knowledge of mechanisms of the development of changes of the functional condition of systems of the human organism in response to the risk factor opens a way to the creation of the mathematical model of the process of the prediction of functional violations promoting the development of noninfectious diseases and other adverse deviations from the state of health. Monitoring of the functional condition of human organism and knowledge of relationships of cause and effect of the functional changes will allow doctors, trainers and teachers to avoid the negative consequences in their practical activities