Risk factors for the occurring diseases associated with soil contamination among cemetery workers

Cover Page

Cite item

Full Text

Open Access Open Access
Restricted Access Access granted
Restricted Access Subscription Access

Abstract

Introduction. Cemeteries are located near or on the territory of populated areas and occupy significant areas. However, the soils of cemeteries and their impact on the health of the population both living near necropolises and periodically coming into contact with the soil of burials due to ritual traditions have been little studied at present. Workers of burial grounds represent a special group.

The purpose of this study was to analyze the risk of occurring diseases associated with soil contamination among cemetery workers.

Materials and methods. A hygienic assessment of the soil was carried out in seven cemeteries. There was carried out a study of 3348 soil samples, of which sanitary-chemical — 432 samples, sanitary-parasitological — 540 samples, sanitary-bacteriological studies — 2376.

Results. As studies have shown, the soil in the territory of cemeteries exceeds the content of heavy metals, such as chromium, cobalt, nickel, copper, zinc, and lead. Which is an undoubted risk factor for the health of cemetery workers. Sanitary, microbiological, and parasitological studies also revealed a high biological danger of cemetery soils for workers. When calculated, the total hazard index exceeds 1, thus the likelihood of harmful effects on human health increases, and such exposure is characterized as unacceptable.

Limitations. A limitation of the study is that the assessment was carried out only on the content of heavy metals whereas organic compounds in the soil were not taken into account due to the lack of standard values.

Compliance with ethical standards. This study does not require the conclusion of a biomedical ethics committee or other documents.

Contribution:
Ushakova O.V. — concept and design of the study, writing the text, collecting material and processing data, editing;
Rakhmanin Yu.A. — concept and design of the study, editing;
Evseeva I.S. — collection of material and data processing.
All authors are responsible for the integrity of all parts of the manuscript and approval of the manuscript final version

Conflict of interest. The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Acknowledgment. The research was carried out within the framework of a state assignment on the topic “Monitoring” at the Center for Strategic Planning and Management of Biomedical Health Risks of the FMBA.

Received: July 5, 2024 / Accepted: October 2, 2024 / Published: November 19, 2024

About the authors

Olga V. Ushakova

A.N. Sysin Research Institute of Human Ecology and Environmental Hygiene of the Centre for Strategic Planning of the Federal medical and biological agency

Email: Oushakova@cspmz.ru

PhD (Medicine), Leading Researcher of the Hygiene Department, the Centre for Strategic Planning of the Federal medical and biological agency, Moscow, 119121, Russian Federation

e-mail: Oushakova@cspmz.ru

Yuriy A. Rakhmanin

A.N. Sysin Research Institute of Human Ecology and Environmental Hygiene of the Centre for Strategic Planning of the Federal medical and biological agency; Federal Scientific Center of Hygiene named after F.F. Erisman of the Federal Service for Supervision of Consumer Rights Protection and Human Well-being

Email: awme@mail.ru

DSc (Medicine), Professor, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Chief researcher of the Centre for Strategic Planning of the Federal medical and biological agency, Moscow, 119121, Russian Federation

e-mail: awme@mail.ru

Irina S. Evseeva

A.N. Sysin Research Institute of Human Ecology and Environmental Hygiene of the Centre for Strategic Planning of the Federal medical and biological agency

Author for correspondence.
Email: Ievseeva@cspfmba.ru

PhD (Medicine), Senior Researcher in the Hygiene Department of the Centre for Strategic Planning of the Federal medical and biological agency, Moscow, 119121, Russian Federation

e-mail: Ievseeva@cspmz.ru; Ievseeva@cspfmba.ru

References

  1. Lukyanova O.P., Kazeev K.SH., Sherstnev A.K., Kolesnikov S.I. The content of heavy metals in the soils of cemeteries. Gigiena i Sanitaria. 2023; 102(1): 22–8. https://doi.org/10.47470/0016-9900-2023-102-1-22-28 https://elibrary.ru/fsyfta (in Russian)
  2. Majgier L., Rahmonov O. Selected chemical properties of Necrosols from the abandoned cemeteries Słabowo and Szymonka (Great Mazurian Lakes District). Bull. Geogr. Phys. Geogr. Ser. 2012; 5(1): 43–55. https://doi.org/10.2478/v10250-012-0003-8
  3. Nordh H., Evensen K.H. Qualities and functions described to urban cemeteries across the capital cities of Scandinavia. Urban For. Urban Greening. 2018; 33: 80–91. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2018.01.026
  4. Ushakova O.V. Scientific substantiation of hygienic requirements for the safe operation of burial areas: Diss. Moscow; 2009. https://elibrary.ru/qgqzbp
  5. Galitskaya I.V., Pozdnyakova I.A., Batrak G.I., Kostikova I.A. Assessment of cemetery impact on contamination of groundwater and other environment components. Inzhenernaya geologiya, gidrogeologiya, geokriologiya. 2014; (6): 495–506. https://elibrary.ru/tdutiz (in Russian)
  6. Sazonova O.V., Suchkov V.V., Isakova O.N., Sudakova T.V., Tupikova D.S. Effect of anthropogenic load conditions self-purification of soil within the sanitary protection zone. Zdorov’e naseleniya i sreda obitaniya – ZNiSO. 2016; (5): 22–5. https://elibrary.ru/vxldxx (in Russian)
  7. Ushakova O.V., Evseeva I.S. Review of modern global trends in assessing soils in burial areas. In: Materials of the 1st National Congress with International Participation on Human Ecology, Hygiene and Environmental Medicine «Sysin readings – 2020» [Materialy I Natsional’nogo kongressa s mezhdunarodnym uchastiem po ekologii cheloveka, gigiene i meditsine okruzhayushchei sredy «Sysinskie chteniya – 2020»]. Moscow; 2020: 372–7. https://elibrary.ru/brfddz
  8. Pérez A.P., Eugenio N.R. Status of Local Soil Contamination in Europe. Brussels: Publications Office of the European Union; 2018. https://doi.org/10.2760/093804
  9. Jahandari A. Pollution status and human health risk assessments of selected heavy metals in urban dust of 16 cities in Iran. Env. Sci. Pollut. Res. 2020; 27(18): 23094–107. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-08585-8
  10. Levasseur P., Erdlenbruch K., Gramaglia C. The health and socioeconomic costs of exposure to soil pollution: evidence from three polluted mining and industrial sites in Europe. J. Public Health (Berl.). 2021; 30: 2533–46. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10389-021-01533-x
  11. Osipova N.A., Filimonenko E.A., Yazikov E.G. The effects of heavy metals in soils as a risk factor for the health of the population (case-study of coal-mining areas). Uspekhi sovremennogo estestvoznaniya. 2022; (12): 124–35. https://doi.org/10.17513/use.37960 https://elibrary.ru/jlhycf (in Russian)
  12. Saghatelyan A., Tepanosyan G., Sahakyan L. Human health risk assessment of heavy metals in the urban environments of Armenia. In: 7th International Conference on Medical Geology. Moscow; 2017.
  13. Huang J., Wu Y., Sun J., Li X., Geng X., Zhao M., et al. Health risk assessment of heavy metal(loid)s in park soils of the largest megacity in China by using Monte Carlo simulation coupled with Positive matrix factorization model. J. Hazard Mater. 2021; 415: 125629. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.125629
  14. Landrigan P.J., Fuller R., Acosta N.J.R., Adeyi O., Arnold R., Basu N.N., et al. The Lancet Commission on pollution and health. Lancet. 2018; 391(10119): 462–512. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(17)32345-0
  15. Levasseur M., Lussier-Therrien M., Biron M.L., Raymond É., Castonguay J., Naud D., et al. Scoping study of definitions of social participation: update and co-construction of an interdisciplinary consensual definition. Age Ageing. 2022; 51(2): afab215. https://doi.org/10.1093/ageing/afab215
  16. Li G., Sun G. X., Ren Y., Luo X.S., Zhu Y.G. Urban soil and human health: a review. Eur. J. Soil Sci. 2018; 69(1): 196–215. https://doi.org/10.1111/ejss.12518
  17. Deryabin A.N., Unguryanu T.N., Buzinov R.V. Population health risk caused by exposure to chemicals in soils. Health Risk Analysis. 2019; (3): 18–25. https://doi.org/10.21668/health.risk/2019.3.02.eng https://elibrary.ru/rywakz
  18. Maddela N.R., Ramakrishnan B., Kakarla D., Venkateswarlu K., Megharaj M. Major contaminants of emerging concern in soils: a perspective on potential health risks. RSC Adv. 2022; 12(20): 12396–415. https://doi.org/10.1039/d1ra09072k
  19. Kasimov H.O., Manasova I.S., Nazarov S.E., Jumaeva Z.J., Nurova Z.H. Occupational hygiene in field farming. Int. J. Psychosoc. Rehabil. 2020; (9): 3830–8.
  20. Тimchenko N.А., Gаzaliyeva М.А., Аkhmetova N.S., Akhmaltdinova L.L. Indications for using immunomodulatory therapy at children with enterobiasis. Uspekhi sovremennogo estestvoznaniya. 2015; (1–3): 387–90. https://elibrary.ru/tpeemz (in Russian)
  21. Motran C.C., Silvane L., Chiapello L.S., Theumer M.G., Ambrosio L.F., Volpini X., et al. Helminth infections: recognition and modulation of the immune response by innate immune cells. Front. Immunol. 2018; 9: 664. https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2018.00664
  22. Loke P., Lee S.C., Oyesola O.O. Effects of helminths on the human immune response and the microbiome. Mucosal Immunology. 2022; 15(6): 1224–33. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41385-022-00532-9

Supplementary files

Supplementary Files
Action
1. JATS XML
Download

Copyright (c) 2025


СМИ зарегистрировано Федеральной службой по надзору в сфере связи, информационных технологий и массовых коммуникаций (Роскомнадзор).
Регистрационный номер и дата принятия решения о регистрации СМИ: серия ПИ № ФС 77 - 37884 от 02.10.2009.