Mercury pollution around a chlor-alkali plant in Pavlodar, Northern Kazakhstan.

Ullrich, S.M., Llyushchenko, M.A, Kamberov, I.M, Panichkin, V.Y and Tanton, T.W. (2004) Mercury pollution around a chlor-alkali plant in Pavlodar, Northern Kazakhstan. Materials and Geoenvironment, 51 (1), 298-301.

Abstract

A programme of research was undertaken to assess the environmental impact and level of risk associated with a major case of mercury pollution at a derelict chlor-alkali plant in Pavlodar, Northern Kazakhstan. Detailed surveys were carried out of the soils around the former electrolysis workshop, the groundwater quality beneath the plant and in the surrounding region, and sediment and water quality in nearby Lake Balkyldak and the River Irtysh. Fish from the lake and the river were also sampled, to assess human health and ecological risks. Soils at the former workshop and near other buildings associated with chlor-alkali production were found to be extremely heavily polluted, with hotspot concentrations in excess of 2 g/kg. Fish from the lake were unfit for human consumption, with mercury concentrations ranging from 0.16-2.2 mg/kg. Mercury concentrations in groundwater are high on the site itself and within the narrow band of the plume (up to 150 µg/L), as well as near the waste lagoons, but the contamination does not appear to have spread more than about 2.5 km from site. Mercury levels in groundwater in the general region are low, indicating that other routes of exposure such as the consumption of contaminated fish from the lake are far more important.

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