Dzerzhinsk, Russia

Dzerzhinsk, Russia, is one of several cities in the former Soviet Union named after the first head of the Soviet secret police, Felix Dzerzhinsky. The city is located approximately 250 miles east of Moscow, in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast. Dzerzhinsk was formed in 1929 because of its proximity to the railroad, proximity to the river Oka, and proximity to Nizhny Novgorod, the Oblast capital. Dzerzhinsk has been recognized as the second most polluted city (after Chernobyl) in the world. Recently, its prominence has been replaced by a few cities in China, although it continues to be listed in the top 10 most polluted cities in the world. As a result of improper disposal of chemical weapons that were produced from the mid to late 1940s until the late 1960s, the city of Dzerzhinsk has numerous health problems. Throughout the city, over 1,150 sources of toxic pollution have been identified.

The city was initially organized to produce enamel, phosphorous, and poison gas. However, the city primarily manufactured chemicals for use in wartime, including the ingredients of mustard gas and lewisite (from arsenic and chlorine), which irritates the lungs and causes blisters. The city area contains a karst topography that provided sinkholes into which the industries of Dzerzhinsk dumped chemicals. In fact, when one company discharged ammonium sulfate into a sinkhole, it appeared quickly in the entire region's groundwater.

Over 300,000 tons of chemicals produced by Dzerzhinsk's factories were dumped in local bodies of water and the sinkholes. This occurred in earnest as the Soviet Union broke apart in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when funding dried up for proper disposal. This dumping has produced a harsh discolorization of the water (nicknamed the White Sea) and has, in turn, affected the drinking water of the surrounding communities. It is rumored that birds that touch the water die. According to a 2003 BBC report, in one village outside of the city, a cow's growth was halted after drinking from the town's well. Reports of increased cancer have surfaced, and many gravesites of those younger than 40 years have been noted. In 2004, the Blacksmith Institute funded the installation of water treatment systems of nearby Pyra and Gavirolvka, whose drinking water is highly polluted and which have only one water source. Because many chemical factories now lay idle, the water table has risen and threatens the Oka river basin, which supplies fresh water to the nearby city of Nizhniy Novgorod, a city of 1.3 million.

Environmental groups have taken soil samples and have found all kinds of toxins high above the legal limits. The major dangerous chemicals in the contaminated water and soil around the town are phenol and dioxin. The levels of these two chemicals are 17 million times above the safe limit. Phenols can be found in common household disinfectants, but the concentration levels around Dzerzhinsk are very high, which can cause harm to the central nervous system, the heart, and kidneys. Phenols can also have harmful effects on blood pressure. Dioxins, a result of chlorine production, cause a cancer of the connective tissue in the body (named sarcoma). Moreover, dioxins can cause reproductive problems in both men and women. A recent report from the BBC told of the extent of reproductive problems in men from Dzerzhinsk that have caused local women to look elsewhere for husbands. In the same report, Dr. Grachya Muradian, the chief of the Dzerzhinsk's maternity ward, noted the negative changes in hormonal and immune systems of Dzerzhinsk's newborns resulting from the contamination of the city's groundwater and land.

...