Water is the most important natural resource on our planet. As is known, the state of the human body depends on the purity of the air, lifestyle, quality of food, and drinking water. Currently, providing the population with high-quality drinking water remains an urgent problem, because groundwater does not always meet current standards and sanitary regulatory requirements for drinking water.
Water is a factor in the transmission of many bacterial and viral infections. The use of poor-quality drinking water significantly worsens human health, causing the occurrence of infectious diseases such as cholera, dysentery, tularemia, leptospirosis, poliomyelitis, etc.
The main criterion for the safety of drinking water in an epidemic sense is the complete absence of harmful microorganisms - pathogens. One of the indicators of bacterial contamination is Escherichia coli, which, compared to other microbes, is the most resistant in the external environment.
However, various chemical compounds that may be present in drinking water also pose a health hazard if their content exceeds maximum permissible standards.
As a result of another terrorist attack by Russia due to a UAV hitting a critical infrastructure facility on February 9, 2024 in the Nemyshlya district of Kharkiv, where tanks with fuel and lubricants were stored, oil products spilled into the Nemyshlya River and further downstream into the Lopan, Udy, and Kharkiv rivers.
Petroleum products are a complex mixture of hydrocarbons, consisting of both aromatic and aliphatic hydrocarbons. Components of petroleum products, namely volatile organic compounds (VOCs), such as benzene, toluene and xylenes, as well as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), are associated with adverse health effects in humans. Exposure to high concentrations of VOCs causes central nervous system toxicity, causing symptoms such as headaches, fatigue and dizziness. Exposure to VOCs can impair the immune system through oxidative stress and reduce white blood cell counts. In particular, benzene is strongly associated with disorders of the hematopoietic system, such as aplastic anemia. Benzene is also classified as a known human carcinogen. PAHs cause symptoms such as nausea, skin and eye irritation after acute, high levels of exposure. Exposure to surfactants during pregnancy can lead to weight loss and hormonal disruptions. Naphthalene, which can be found in drinking water, negatively affects the hematopoietic system, damaging and destroying red blood cells, causing symptoms such as shortness of breath and fatigue. Aromatic hydrocarbons (arenes) found in petroleum products are particularly persistent.
The presence of the smell of petroleum products and a film on the surface of the water, even without laboratory tests, indicates that their permissible concentration is exceeded, making it unsuitable for consumption.
To prevent diseases and poisoning associated with the consumption of poor-quality drinking water, it is necessary to:
– do not use water from wells, spring catchments, wells located on private plots in the river catchment area without confirming its quality and safety;
– use only water of guaranteed quality for drinking purposes;
– all owners should conduct systematic monitoring of the safety and quality of drinking water from centralized and decentralized water supply sources;
To ensure good quality drinking water from a well, it is necessary to use water from a source that is located above the terrain from soil contaminants such as household waste and animal waste.
We must not forget about the improvement of the well itself: paving, roofs, clean buckets. At least once a year, it is necessary to clean the source with subsequent disinfection and laboratory control of the quality of drinking water.
Remember that water should always be transparent, have a chemical composition that meets hygienic requirements, and be safe in terms of microbial contamination, that is, not be a means of transmitting acute intestinal infections.
Chuhuyiv District Department of the Main Department of the State Service for Food and Consumer Protection in Kharkiv Region