Odor pollution in the Ore Mountains and Vogtland
The odor pollution in the Ore Mountains and Vogtland arises during a special weather situation, the Bohemian Wind , in connection with pollution in the Vogtland and the Ore Mountains . The result is a particularly strong smell, which the residents of both landscapes describe as a "cat's dirt smell". The smell is carried by the wind from the south or southeast from the Czech side over the Ore Mountains ridge to Saxony . Residents also complain of health problems; tree deaths also occurred until the 1990s . The phenomenon occurs mainly in autumn and winter with southern air currents.
Background and consequences
The south-easterly wind coming from Bohemia carries away a cold air lake from Bohemia that has been created by inversion weather conditions . This phenomenon is called Böhm wind or Bohemian wind, in connection with the odor pollution also known as Bohemian fog . This wind also carries pollutants from the Czech Republic .
The polluters are considered to be the petrochemical industry and the lignite power stations in the Czech lignite mining area, particularly in the northwestern Bohemian industrial area around Chomutov (Komotau), Litvínov (Leutensdorf), Most (Brüx) and Teplice (Teplitz).
The pollutants include sulfur dioxide, hydrocarbon compounds, soot and dust. Currently, mercaptans , in particular , are being investigated , which occur in crude oil and could be the cause of the distinctive odor. In the context of environmental monitoring, hydrogen sulfide compounds in particular are measured on Schwartenberg and Klingenthal .
Between around 1965 and 1990, the air pollution caused extensive tree death in the Ore Mountains. In Olbernhau and Klingenthal , a pH value of 2.5 was measured in the rain in the 1990s .
The smell alone is no longer perceived as the smell of cat droppings; Among other things, smells like "rotten eggs or burnt rubber" are described.
The residents cite nausea , diarrhea , headache , stomach ache and fever as health complaints . In the spring of 2016, the Saxon State Ministry for Social Affairs commissioned the Technical University of Dresden to investigate the phenomenon more closely. Their study, published on March 14, 2017, attests that there are "only very minor correlations" between the odor pollution and the diseases described. Critics then rejected the study as an inadequate investigation of the phenomenon.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b stink like cat's dirt. The Czech chimneys are smoking again, and tree death is increasing in the Ore Mountains. In: Spiegel, December 9, 1996
- ↑ a b Cornelius Pollmer: Erzgebirge. Smelly landscapes. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung, July 23, 2015
- ↑ Horst-Günter Kath et al .: Are mercaptans the cause of odor problems in the Ore Mountains? ( Memento of the original from March 17, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 2016
- ↑ Cat urine and spoiled eggs. In: Frankfurter Rundschau, April 10, 2015
- ↑ Saxon State Office for Environment, Agriculture and Geology : Odor pollution in the Ore Mountains and Vogtland. Environmental reports.
- ↑ František Rein: Meteorological conditions of air pollution on the southern slopes of the Ore Mountains. In: Journal of Meteorology. Volume 20, Issue 1-6 (1968), pp. 101-105.
- ↑ Günther Flemming: On the frequency of south-eastern strong winds on the Erzgebirgskamm. In: Journal of Meteorology. Volume 31, Issue 1 (1981), pp. 41-44.
- ↑ The Riddle of the Cat Dirt. Czechs and Germans are looking for the reason for bad smells in the Ore Mountains. In: Prager Zeitung , April 2, 2015
- ^ Bohemian Fog - Ministry under criticism , Freie Presse, February 8, 2016, accessed on March 18, 2017
- ↑ Dresden study ensures thick air. ( Memento of the original from March 18, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , mdr.de, March 15, 2017
