ESTONIAN ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW 2009

10.2. The impact of ambient air
pollution on human health
The extent to which air pollution harms health depends
on many factors, including the pollutant, the quantities,
an exposed person’s medical history, as well as whether
the person is exposed to the polluted air for a short or long
term, and whether the person is a child or adult. Often
diseases are caused by a complex long-term interaction
of several factors.
An analysis of monitoring data from the last few years
shows that the greatest problem related to ambient air
quality is the amount of particulate matter, especially in
the spring. Fine dust, or more precisely particulate matter,
is a mixture of very small particles consisting of nitrogen
and sulphur oxides, acids (nitrates and sulphates), organic
substances (polyaromatic hydrocarbons – PAHs), metals
and soil and dust particles. The primary sources of particles
are vehicle emissions, wood-burning stoves and fireplaces,
boiler plants and industrial enterprises.
As to what health problems emerge as a result of air
pollution, this depends on how long a given person is
exposed to air pollution and the specific individual (age,
medical history etc). The primary health problems arising
as a result of air pollution are lung diseases and diseases of
the heart and circulatory system. The finer the particles,
the deeper into the respiratory tract they penetrate – particulate
matter with a diameter of under 10 micrometers
reach the alveoli and may form pockets of inflammation if
they remain there. Particulate matter under 0.1 micrometer
in diameter may travel through the lung’s alveoli into the
bloodstream and on to other organs.
An assessment of the health impact of particulate
matter B has been conducted in Estonia; it showed that
particles can reduce life expectancy. On the basis of this
assessment, the average life expectancy decreased by 0.95
years in Pärnu, 0.7 years in Tallinn and Tartu, 0.5 years in
Narva and 0.3 in Kohtla-Järve. The decrease is quite high
in Pärnu due to the fact that a significant share of the
city’s population lives in the city centre, which is the most
polluted. This means 450 early deaths per year, 6000 lost
years of life, plus hundreds of days spent in hospital. The
financial toll to society is more than 1 billion kroons. In
comparison, particulate matter reduces life expectancy by
0.75 years on average in Europe, by an average of 2 years
in the Netherlands and by 1.8–3.1 years in large cities in
North America.
Scientists have found that the limits for particles in
the directives are not sufficient to protect human health.
Unfortunately, the impact of other pollutants such as
polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs); carbon monoxide
(CO); sulphur dioxide (SO 2
) has not been studied in Estonia,
but a large part of their effect is tied to the impact of
particulate matter. Insofar as many chemical pollutants
become deposited on particulate matter, findings regarding
the impact of particulate matter are the summation
of both physical (particle size, mechanical irritation) and
chemical factors.
10.3. Drinking water quality
Groundwater in Estonia has been considered a source
of quality drinking water for many years, as for the most
part groundwater is well-protected from pollution of
human origin. As the quality requirements for drinking
water, especially its chemical requirements, have become
stricter over the years, a situation has been reached
where Estonian groundwater often does not conform to
the quality requirements set forth in the Drinking Water
Directive. The non-conformity is not due to pollution of
human origin but rather the fact that the groundwater
contains a naturally high level of a number of elements
and substances, significantly in excess of the requirements
applicable to drinking water. This situation means that
groundwater must be purified before it can be used for
drinking water.
There is a proved correlation between high levels of
chemical components in water (nitrates, fluorine, boron,
aluminium, barium, cadmium, nickel etc) and certain
non-infectious chronic diseases. These diseases develop in
the case of long-term consumption of substandard drinking
quality, as a result of which it is hard to determine a
causal connection to drinking water quality.
In Estonia, a number of groundwater complexes with
different water properties are used for drinking water and
household water (table 10.1).
In 2008, there were no public water works with over
2000 consumers where the microbiological indicators did
not conform to the requirements. In the second half of
the year, there were problems with the water supply in
the Järve district of the city of Kohtla-Järve. The reason
for the non-conformity of microbiological indicators was
Table 10.1. Description of groundwater complexes
used as sources of drinking and household water from
the aspect of use as drinking water. Data: Health
Protection Inspectorate.
Water complex/Water layer
Quaternary (Q)
Late Devonian (D3)
Middle Devonian (D2)
Middle and Early Devonian
complex (D2-1)
Middle-Early Devonian
Silurian (D2-1-S)
Silurian-Ordovician (S-O)
Ordovician-Cambrian
(O-€)
Cambrian-Vendian (€-V)
Primary problems
Light pollution, low
level of protection
Iron
Iron
Iron
Iron, chlorides,
fluorine
Nitrates, iron, fluorine,
chloride, occasionally
boron
Iron
Chlorides, manganese,
radionuclides, occasionally
sodium and
barium
B
Välisõhu kvaliteedi mõju inimeste tervisele Tallinna linnas. (Impact of ambient air quality on the health of people in the city of Tallinn.) (2007). / H. Orru et al. Tartu :
University of Tartu [WWW] http://www.envir.ee/392990
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