The experience of empirical research on comparative assessment of radiation and chemical health risks due to exposure to environmental factors

Introduction. The world practice of solving environmental problems has shown the effectiveness of modern environmental quality management schemes based on the analysis and risk management.

Material and Methods. The use of risk assessment and analysis methodology allows obtaining quantitative characteristics of the possible damage, to compare the potential effects of radiation and chemical factors and to determine priority sources of danger. The main directions of the practical use of results of assessment of the risk arising from the impact of chemicals polluting the environment are: ranking of residential areas according to the levels of health risks from the studied factors, planning and evaluation of the results of social and hygienic monitoring (SHM), including the correction of planning and implementation, taking into account the priority sources of environmental pollution, the priority adjustment of sources of risks posING the greatest threat to public health.

Results. Approaches to the research on the comparative assessment of carcinogenic risk and damage to public health from ionizing radiation and chemical carcinogens in various environmental objects have been developed. The results of studies in the locations of nuclear facilities in the Sverdlovsk region, the Kola Peninsula, the Voronezh region, the Krasnoyarsk territory, and the Leningrad region indicate to a much greater impact of the chemical risk factor on the population health compared to the radiation one. The primary environment of health risks in multimedia risk assessment is the air, what should be considered when developing regional environmental policies.

Conclusion. The conducted studies have shown Contribution of nuclear power facilities to the formation of man-made risk to public health to be negligible and by orders of magnitude smaller than Contribution of risk from facilities emitting harmful chemicals. Atmospheric air is the main environment for the formation of health risks in the multimedia exposure to chemicals. Therefore, measures aimed at improving the quality of air should be regarded as a priority for the implementation of measures to preserve public health. The obtained results allow detecting the priorities of the policy in the field of health protection and sanitary-epidemiological welfare of the population and contribute to the development of a strategy for further environmentally acceptable socio-economic development of the studied regions.