Comprehensive Hygienic Assessment of Environmental Conditions near a Major Hazard Facility

Introduction: Activities of space industry facilities are often associated with the use of highly toxic components of liquid rocket fuel, which makes them a potential source of adverse impact on the environment.
Objective: To conduct a comprehensive hygienic assessment of environmental conditions in the vicinity of a space industry enterprise.
Materials and Methods: The assessment was carried out for the years 2018–2023 based on environmental quality monitoring results of the industry and public health surveillance data collected by Interregional Directorate No. 91 of the Russian Federal Biomedical Agency and the Office of the Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Well-Being (Rospotrebnadzor) in the Sverdlovsk Region.
Results: Pollution of the atmospheric air, soil, and river water with rocket fuel components and their transformation products was not established. Elevated iron and manganese concentrations in both surface and ground waters and high turbidity levels were natural. Nitrate concentrations in water samples taken from the urban well were up to 1.2 MAC. Due to the lack of water treatment facilities, the quality of tap water was determined primarily by its composition in the water supply source. The soil of the urban residential area was found to be contaminated with zinc (up to 4.0 MAC), manganese (up to 1.5 MAC), nickel (up to 2.7 MAC), cadmium (up to 1.2 MAC), and benzo(a)pyrene (up to 2,220 MAC).
Conclusions: The economic activity of the major hazard facility does not have a significant negative impact on the state of atmospheric air, soil, and surface water bodies. High nitrate concentrations measured in well water samples may indicate the effect of the industry on groundwater quality.

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