Preliminary Site Characterization of the Rudnaya Pristan - Dalnegorsk Mining District, Russian Far East. Susan M. Spalinger and Margrit C. von Braun, Environmental Science Program, University of Idaho, Morrill Hall 207, Moscow, ID 83844-3006; Ian von Lindern, TerraGraphics Environmental Engineering, Inc., 121 S. Jackson St., Moscow, ID 83843; Nadia Khristoforova, Far Eastern State University, Vladivostok, Russia; and Anatoli Kachur, Pacific Geographical Institute, Vladivostok, Russia
In the Russian Far East towns of Dalnegorsk and Rudnaya Pristan, mining and smelting of lead ore has occurred for nearly a century. A joint research team of Russian and U.S. scientists conducted a preliminary site survey in July 1997, and collected 62 soil and sediment samples in the Rudnaya Pristan mining region. The samples were analyzed for lead and revealed significant environmental contamination. Railroad right-of-ways in Rudnaya Pristan averaged 59,375 mg/kg. Residential gardens and yards averaged 2141 mg/kg. Roadside soil samples averaged 6119 mg/kg. The data were applied to the Integrated Exposure Uptake Biokinetic Model for lead in children. Preliminary analyses averaged between 15 to 45 mg/dl, indicating a significant probability of childhood lead poisoning (i.e., children with blood lead levels greater than 10 mg/dl, the U.S. standard level of concern). Most of the diet of Rudnaya Pristan’s residents is comprised of the crops grown in their gardens. Therefore, exposure to heavy metals in their diet is estimated to significantly differ from levels found in the U.S. diet. Proposed future research will include sampling of environmental media (i.e., drinking water, garden crops, housedust, soil and ambient air), interviews with local residents to determine exposure, and a health survey focusing on children and workers. The overall goal of the proposed research is to determine the extent of heavy metals contamination and to identify significant human exposure pathways. Many political, socioeconomic, and logistical challenges will be faced trying to perform standard U.S. risk assessment methods in the Russian Far East.
Preliminary work supported by: Idaho Research Seed Grant, University of Idaho, TerraGraphics Environmental Engineering, Inc., Far Eastern State University, and Pacific Geographical Institute.
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