Schools in Hungary - indoor pollution often worse than outdoor pollution
19.5.2006 - Gyorgyi Jakobi

Since the change from communism to democratic government 16 years ago Hungary has much to close the gap with the west on environmental standards. And joining the European Union 2 years ago meant Hungary had to meet new standards and Hungarians become more environment conscious. Despite this environmental problems from the past continue to affect the health of Hungarians.

Dr Eva Csobod is from the Regional Environmental Institute:

"Pollution related to the past is mainly in the soil, as far as air and water are concerned the situation is much better due to different resources and helpful programmes of the government. If we think about the different fields of the environment, handling the waste is quite problematic because it is not handled carefully enough everywhere in the country. The other problem is air pollution, especially indoor pollution. For example in schools, the quality of the air is not the best."

Due to what? Is it due to a lack of airing the rooms or ventilation?

"It is due to the ventilation, due to the walls, the different chemicals coming from the wall, and also due to the heating systems. You know, due to the heating system sometimes Nitrogen Oxide may cause problems in the air inside the building, in schools as well as in family homes. But I think the situation is getting better because the government has a new programme, an environmental and health programme for the next 6 years. Also we have more resources, financial and human, to have a better situation concerning the environment and health."

I think a law in effect from 1985 bans harmful materials in wall paint, chipboard, or polish.

"You are absolutely right. From 1985 we have had regulations concerning these materials. We also have a research project at the REC covering 8 countries investigating the regulations in schools. We would like to influence the decision-makers to have better regulations; the Hungarian standards should be stricter. The project is to force decision-makers to have stronger standards related to harmful chemicals. Also we would like to see more chemicals on the list of school standards. Really, all chemicals which are harmful to the health of children should be banned. We would need a good action programme. It's on its way. We hope that it will happen very soon."

But what does a teacher at a Budapest secondary school, Dr Agnes Sroth, say who works with the REC [Regional Environmental Center]. What are the most harmful materials you know of?

"Almost everything children carry in their schoolbag: the felt pens and correctors, the paint in them is hazardous to health. If there are new benches or the old ones are re-polished, the glue contains formaldehyde and it evaporates."

Despite the fact that a law passed in 1985 bans the use of such glues?

"Unfortunately, these benches are glued which contains a strong organic material. Another danger area is the washroom and the loo because of the use of cleansers and disinfectants. The pupil who first goes to the loo after it's been freshly cleaned would inhale a large quantity of chemicals. Also during laboratory experiments at chemistry classes we have to watch how much and what kind of agents we experiment with."

Do you try to counter-balance the chemicals with anything?

"We really can't. The use of chalk or colour pencils would be healthier than the felt pens but they are not popular these days. We try to find environment-friendly cleaning stuff but not with complete success. Most of them contain phosphate. We can use vinegar to wash the benches or the floor with."

All you have said now is not a Hungarian feature, I think.

"I don't know about other countries. In cooperation with the REC [Regional Environmental Center] we organise health courses for teachers and cleaners to call attention to what is harmful and how to possibly avoid it."

Twenty years since Chernobyl and doctors still unsure about true consequences
19.5.2006 - Danuta Szafraniec

With the 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster coming up in April many scientists and analysts are still unsure of the true scale of the accident. Up to mid-2005, fewer than 50 deaths had been directly attributed to radiation from the disaster, almost all being highly exposed rescue workers, many of whom died within months of the accident, although others died as late as 2004. But the latest UN report predicts that up to 4000 people could eventually die of radiation exposure and cancer induced as a result of it. Danuta Szafraniec reports.

When the Soviet era Chernobyl reactor blew in 1986 it blasted 200 times the combined radiation of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atom bombs into the air. The radioactive 'cloud' traveled with the winds across Europe, causing panic across much of the continent. There were some staggering estimates of hundreds of thousands of fatalities. Poland was one of the first countries to react. Just hours after the explosion, stable liquid iodine, preventing radioactive elements from entering into the thyroid glands, was administered in the whole country, including its most affected north-eastern regions. Dr Andrzej Komosa works at the Radiochemistry Department at the Maria Sklodowska University in Lublin, eastern Poland where contamination tests were conducted directly after the explosion on April 26, 1986.

"I remember this date very well because it was the first time I had contact with such a large amount of isotopes. I was a young scientist and we had only small, simple radiometers. We used this apparatus to see the scale of the contamination of the environment, the grass or the atmosphere. Chernobyl contamination was known to reveal hot particles - parts of the reactor core. It contained very large amount of isotopes as a product of fusion and also material like uranium or plutonium. At this time my colleague found on his balcony one such hot particle using this simple measuring device. With the spectrometer we found a very large activity of products of fusion reaction. It came of course directly from the Chernobyl reactor."

Up to mid-2005, fewer than 50 deaths had been directly attributed to radiation from the disaster, almost all being highly exposed rescue workers. But the latest UN report predicts that up to 4,000 people could eventually die of the long-term effects of radiation exposure. It bases the figure on a "linear no-threshold" theory - contradicted by many - which assumes that even low levels of radiation at exposures below those that naturally occur in the environment will lead to quantifiable deaths. Professor Zbigniew Jaworowski, a former chairman of the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation sees such data as questionable:

"We know that in fact the medical effects of Chernobyl were caused by extremely high doses suffered by the people working in the nuclear power station and by members of the rescue team. Altogether, due to those extremely high doses, 28 people died after being irradiated. We cannot say that any level of radiation can be dangerous. There is even a level at which radiation is probably beneficial for our health. In the past when life started on this Earth natural radiation was several times higher than it is now because naturally radioactive elements are dying out with time."

In spite of the relatively low number of casualties in the Chernobyl blast, environmental activists argue that no-one can deny it emitted a huge amount of radioactivity into the atmosphere and resulted in a massive disruption of life throughout Europe. Jan Haverkamp, nuclear energy consultant for Greenpeace, says that the statistics are unreliable and contradictory:

"My best guess is that the lower limit on the number of victims is 4000, but even if it is only 4000, that is an enormous number of people for one catastrophe - more than died in the attacks on the Twin Towers. That is the very lowest estimate, based on very limited research on the batch of people which could be followed. The upper estimates rise to 60 000 deaths, which is something almost beyond the imagination."

Speculation over the real impact of Chernobyl continues, but the fact remains that 20 years after the blast there are still "hot spots" in Europe. One is in Lapland where reindeer meat often has to be destroyed because it contains high levels of cesium; another is in Scotland, where in one area sheep can still not be bred for meat. There may be many more, as these hot spots are still difficult to trace.

The silent killer in Slovenia's buildings
19.5.2006 - Ksenija Samardzija-Matul

Asbestos is a remarkable mineral - it insulates, it's a flame retardant and it's been used in buildings for many years. And for many years its threat to health went unrecognised or ignored. Asbestos can cause lung cancer and asbetosis - a scarring of the lungs leading to breathing problems and heart failure.

In Slovenia, asbestos still exists in many older buildings, in pipe insulation material, textured paints and other coating materials. In Slovenia the material was used in many products and today the question is how to get rid of it without exposing people to the deadly fibre.

I spoke to Dr. Marko Vudrag the former director of the Institute of Public Health in Ljubljana and asked him when the danger of asbestos became an issue?

"The use of asbestos was massive and universal until the 1960s. At that time asbestos lung malignancy among workers in industry producing or using asbestos was confirmed. These findings were alarming. That is why the first limitations of the use of asbestos were introduced in the late 70s and early 80s - first in the US and after that in EU member states. In Slovenia such measures were first taken in 1996."

The problem of asbestos is that the latency period before the outbreak of the disease can be very long and many people who worked with asbestos were not aware of its health risks and were not properly protected. As they inhaled dangerous asbestos fibres, they often were unaware what effects this would eventually have on their health. Dr.Vudrag:

"I think that products containing asbestos usually last 35 to 40 years, which means that these products will soon need replacing. If we are exposed to asbestos we can suffer the consequences maybe after 20 to 30 years of exposure."

But how many people were actually exposed to asbestos in Slovenia and is it possible to determine which areas of the country are mostly affected?

"According to information on employment in individual enterprises that used asbestos it can be observed that several thousand workers - in Slovenia about 23,000 - were under occupational exposure in Slovenia. According to the latest information asbestosis has been confirmed in more than 1,000 persons. The majority of those who have contracted the disease live or used to live around Anhovo (the biggest factory in Slovenia using asbestos in its production) in Ljubljana and in Maribor, asbestos using big enterprises. Most of them were exposed to asbestos in their workplace. You should know that there are about 200 enterprises using asbestos in Slovenia. 14 major enterprises use asbestos in production."

Intact and undisturbed asbestos does not pose a health risk. Asbestos becomes a problem when, due to damage or deterioration over time, the material releases fibres into the air. Improper attempts to remove these materials can release asbestos fibres into the air in homes, increasing asbestos levels and endangering people living in those homes.

"There are numerous regulations concerning the environment and health including the law on the protection of the environment and several other regulations, regarding dangerous material. There are regulations on waste treatment as well as the statute on treatment of waste materials containing asbestos. All these regulations are good and professional, they must be strictly followed to prevent environmental and especially health damage. Perhaps what we need in Slovenia is a professional inspection service to control how people treat waste containing asbestos. We really need professional training."

I asked Dr. Vudrag how the patients are treated to help them:

"We don't have any treatment about that. We have malignancy disease it's a big problem for our health care system and especially for our patients."

Dust was carried home on the clothes of workers, dust that was cleaned from their clothes by their wives at home, dust that was packed around the heating systems in houses and offices and schools. This means that not only workers who were directly exposed to asbestos at the working place but also their families and those living near those factories can face severe health problems. According to Dr.Vudrag, due to the long latency period, the number of cases of asbestosis or asbestos-related cancer will not peak for another 20 years.

High noise levels bane of modern urban life
19.5.2006 - Ian Willoughby

In Central Europe increasing numbers of people are moving from the country to the city. Like much of the rest of the world - societies here are becoming more urbanised and the problem of noise pollution more acute. The Czech capital Prague is unusual, in that one of the country's main transport arteries cuts right through the centre of the city. But what effect does the noise caused by the huge volume of traffic have on people who live there? Radio Prague's Ian Willoughby reports.

I'm standing on the Magistrala, a road which cuts right through the top of Wenceslas Square in the heart of the Czech capital. It was built by the Communists in the 1970s. Now an amazing 100,000 vehicles pass through the Magistrala every day. It is one reason Prague is the noisiest city in the Czech Republic. One study found 60 percent of the city's citizens said they suffered from high noise levels. Here are the opinions of some Prague residents.

Woman: "I think it reflects our age. If that's the way politicians want it, that's the way it is. It definitely shouldn't be like this, because it's clearly bad for your health. I work on this street myself - maybe I'll have health problems in the future."

Second woman: "Of course I don't like it one bit. I live in the suburbs but I'm here in the centre quite often. What they really should do is build a ring road around the city."

"The noise which occurs in towns and cities has the same effects as any other kind of stress. That means an increase in 'civilisation diseases'. They include high blood pressure, hypertension, heart attacks, thyroid gland problems or even a decrease in immunity."

Says Dr Petr Sisman, an expert on noise pollution at the Czech State Health Institute. He says it is hard to fight the problem in modern cities. But there are certain things that the authorities can do.

"Towns and cities - or the state - can fight this problem in a number of ways. They can build ring roads, so traffic doesn't have to go through the city. They can ensure that speed limits are observed and that vehicles have passed technical tests. Drivers need to be encouraged to behave responsibly and not drive noisily, so as to keep noise levels down."

As for noise problems particular to the Czech capital, Dr Sisman says there are geographical and historical factors which somewhat tie the hands of the municipal authorities.

"A lot depends of course on how much the city puts into anti-noise measures. Things are a bit complicated in Prague, because it's a hilly city with old, relatively narrow streets and that can't be changed. And that makes it harder to build by-passes."

On top of that, city officials say they just don't have the funding to do more to deal with noise pollution. It seems locals will just have to get used to the constant din.

High Tatra air no longer as healthy?
19.5.2006 - Katarina Richterova

Air is one of the things that bring people to Slovakia's Tatras National Park. Many call the Tatras a healing "respiration resort". Walks through the forests help to get your lungs back into shape. But those forests were badly damaged in the great storm of November 2004. Can the Tatras still deliver their famous health benefits?

Driving through the most seriously damaged areas of the National Park I am surrounded by vast open spaces.

In the year and 4 months since the storm, 85% of wood and broken trees have been removed from the damaged areas. Peter Fleischer, from the research station of the National Park says this was a necessary step to prevent serious ecological changes to the forest. However some environmentalists see this step as the cause for many negative changes in the areas where the forests have been cleared. Maria Hudakova is from the "Wolf" forest protection movement.

"Animals lost their natural habitat and had to leave the area. Micro-climatic changes occurred due to the fact that the trees were removed. If at least some of the trees had remained, some thirty percent, the climatic changes would not have been so bad."

Climatic changes are one thing. But as you walk through the open wasteland around Stary or Dolny Smokovec, you can't help wondering whether the famous healing air is still there.

"The air quality has probably not changed at all during this - there are some differences but it is not possible for humans to sense them."

Walking through Smokovec you will probably have the impression that the little town is much windier than it used to be before the storm. Although experts say this is just a feeling not supported by any evidence, it is actually the wind that makes sure that the fresh and good air comes from the forested areas to the parts where trees have fallen down.

Maria Hudakova, from the Wolf forest protection movement, also comments on the air quality in the towns of the Tatras:

"The traffic in the high Tatras is so dense that we can say that transportation is more dangerous to the quality of the air than the fact that the trees are no longer there."

Although the air quality in the parts of the Tatras where the forests have been lost has not got any worse, experts have noticed differences. Peter Fleischer, from the research station of the Tatra National Park specifies:

"After one year, it has become quite clear that in the areas where the timber was removed, quite a lot of CO2 is being released."

The increase of CO2 in the air is so small, that humans can't notice it, nor will it have any serious impact on health. As Peter Fleischer estimates, the increased concentration of CO2 in the air is already starting to go down again and in 2-3 years the devastated parts of the forest could once again reach their balance.

The storm in 2004, as well as reducing the size of the forests brought another change to the National Park. Ozone levels have been a threat to human health for quite a while. So now that the Tatras are lacking 25% of their spruce forests there is a danger that this could also influence the ozone level. Peter Fleischer:

"Some indices show that the concentration of the ozone has decreased."

Experts say that the catastrophe that came in 2004 was expected, just as are many other threats the Tatras face today. Floods, due to the lower water retention capacity of the land, fires and insect infestation are just some of the worries the High Tatras National Park has to deal with.