PCB pollution of the Krupa

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The PCB pollution of the Krupa was discovered when the source of the south Slovenian river Krupa was examined for its suitability for the production of drinking water for the Bela krajina ("white pith"). The discovery of the massive pollution was a shock for the Slovenian population at the time and triggered a major scandal in what was then Yugoslavia . The river has been a nature reserve since 1997. After 2.5 km the Krupa joins the Lahinja near Gradac and Primostek . The water finally reaches the Danube near Belgrade via the Kolpa and the Save . Even today, pollution from PCBs ( polychlorinated biphenyls ) is high and can be detected in soil samples, fish, in water and in domestic animals.

Production of capacitors

The Iskra Kondenzatorji company completed a factory for the production of capacitors and transformers in Semič in 1960 . For this, from 1962, liquids containing PCBs were used as dielectrics . Such capacitors were installed in Gorenje washing machines, for example . Specifically, the Askarele Clophen A-50 and A-30 from Bayer AG with 30 and 50% chlorine content were used up to 1970 and Pyralen 1500 from Prodelec in Lausanne with 42% chlorine content from 1970 to 1985 . In total, Iskra consumed around 3.7 million kg between 1962 and 1985. A waste fraction of 8 to 9% was created as capacitors and other forms of waste. Up to 1974, 130,000 kg of waste (70,000 kg of which were pure PCB) were illegally dumped in various karst dolines, illegal landfills, etc. within a distance of 5 km around Semič. PCB waste was handled like normal waste in accordance with the then applicable Yugoslav laws. After 1975 around 170,000 to 172,000 kg were collected and collected and sent back to France once a year for processing. It is not known exactly what happened to the waste there. It is possible that these were burned and the residues dumped into the sea. Iskra had to pay Prodelec between US $ 30,000 and US $ 50,000 for each removal. However, smaller waste capacitors continued to be disposed of locally in an uncontrolled manner. In contrast, the National Implementation Plan for the Management of Persistent Organic Pollutants in the Period 2009-2013 of the Slovenian Government speaks of 246.1 tonnes for the same period (1962 to February 1985). Of this, 6.2 tons were sold and 169.1 tons were exported to France and burned. In the Semič area, 70.0 tonnes of emissions were released through improper burial.

Accidental discovery of PCB pollution

Approximate location of the original PCB dumps in Bela krajina

In autumn 1983 all preparations had been made to use the Krupa spring for the drinking water supply of Bela krajina, where only about half of the population was connected to the public drinking water supply. The basis for this was a study from 1972. Up until 1983, various other investigations were carried out, plans drawn up, necessary approvals obtained and the land bought. Investigations by the Maribor Health Department using gas chromatography in 1983 showed a concentration of polychlorinated biphenyls in the water that exceeded the limit values ​​permitted by the WHO or the US FDA by 300 to 400 times (the mean value in water was 0.3 μg / l, in comparison, the FDA limit value was 0.001 μg / l). As a result, contamination was found in the air, in sediments, in food, and in animal and human tissue. The residents of six nearby towns are said to have ingested 3.6 mg of PCBs daily through the food chain. The PCB load was particularly high in the Krupa River, which is about 3 km from the Iskra factory.

The high concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) measured indicated improperly stored waste from the Iskra company from Semič . After the contamination was discovered, the director of the Semič factory allegedly committed suicide.

It was reported that the inhabitant of the mill below the source of the Krupa recognized the characteristic smell of Chlophen or Pyralen during a flood, as she had studied these substances in the Iskra laboratory for many years.

The fact that the affected area is a karst landscape is particularly problematic . Warning signs were placed around the spring warning against bathing, fishing and drinking the water.

Load and further investigations

After the discontinuation of PCB-containing capacitors in 1985, it was determined that around 6000 cubic meters of PCB-contaminated soil had to be decontaminated. In the following year a waterproof concrete sarcophagus was built to store this floor. A monitoring program has been carried out since 1984. The Slovenian Environment Agency, which is subordinate to the Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning, is responsible.

EU report

In a final report of the EU from 1994, in which the PCB and dioxin pollution of the environment and people in the accession countries was examined, a total PCB pollution of 26-35 ng / l water for the middle reaches of the Krupa is given. Furthermore, a total PCB content in the sediment of 15,000 μg / g dry matter at the source is given for 1991, at the river mouth it was still 0.63 μg / g dry matter. The source pollution is the highest value mentioned in this report and is five times greater than the second highest value measured in the sewer of a factory on Zemplínska šírava in Slovakia. For comparison, the highest PCB content of river sediment listed in Germany is 0.836 µg / g dry matter (Elbe, Schmilka, km 4.1). That is why the Krupa is declared a “hot spot” in this report and the degree of pollution there is described as “extreme”. The information on the PCB contamination of fish corresponds in terms of magnitude to the information in the newspaper Novi list: For the period 1984 to 1995, two fish without specifying the species were examined at the source, at the middle course and at the river mouth. A PCB contamination of 116–118 µg / g adipose tissue was determined for the fish caught at the source. For the other fish values ​​of 0.32–3.3 µg / g adipose tissue were determined. For 1991, values ​​of 7.2–177 µg / g fat were given for 12 fish (no information on the species) that were caught at the source. The pollution of the fish from the middle reaches (18 fish without specifying the species with 0.97–77 µg / g fat) and at the river mouth (18 fish without specifying the species with 0.21–5.8 µg / g fat) was less.

According to a study from the year 2000 by the environmental science department of the Jožef Štefan Institute in Ljubljana, the level of PCB exposure has now fallen to around 1/10 of the value when it was discovered in 1984. However, this report also emphasizes that the problem of pollution is particularly pressing due to the karst landscape and the mixing of surface water with regional groundwater.

Reporting in the Croatian press

Since the Krupa flows into the Lahinja after a short distance and this in turn flows into the Kolpa, the Kolpa is also contaminated with PCBs in the further course (from the Slovenian town of Primostek). In November 2012, the Croatian newspaper Novi list reported on new tests on river catfish carried out by the health department in Zagreb. This confirmed the continued very high pollution of nature by PCBs. The analysis was commissioned by the sport fishing club from Ozalj . In a catfish with a live weight of 22 kg, the PCB limit was exceeded by a factor of 18. 146.1 mg PCB per kg dry matter were found. The PCB contamination of milk from Semič is about twice that of normal milk and that of chicken is about seven times as high as normal. According to analyzes by the Oncological Institute in Ljubljana, the risk of developing biliary cancer for women from Semič is 4.3 times higher than usual. The incidence of colon cancer , lung cancer , uterine cancer and liver cancer is much higher in this area than in the rest of Slovenia. The information on the consumption of PCBs (3,443,000 kg) and the amount of waste delivered to France (169,000 kg) largely coincide with the information from the Jožef Štefan Institute. Deviations or additional information are given about the amount that should have remained after the production ban in 1983. The Croatian newspaper reports that 246,000 kg were left unprocessed. 6200 kg of this would have been sold and 169,000 kg would have been delivered to France. The rest (70,800 kg) is said to have been stored in the factory for over a year. As a result, 27,000 kg were released into the atmosphere through evaporation. The remainder (43,800 kg) would have been stored in the concrete sarcophagus described. According to witnesses, this is permeable, so that over 13,000 kg seeped into the ground and poisoned the environment.

Over time, the degree of soiling decreased due to leaching and dilution. However, carnivorous fish that are predominantly near the bottom of rivers (e.g. catfish) are particularly highly contaminated due to the deposition of PCBs in the sediment. Due to natural migration, contaminated fish can also be found in the Lahinja and Kolpa. The pollution of fish in the Lahinja is given as 153 times, that of fish in the Krupa as 113 to 1674 times as high as the limit value. These values ​​have been found in four to five year old trout caught at the source of the Krupa.

According to the Zagreb study, an adult eats three eggs, half a kilogram of chicken and 1.4 liters of milk a week, ingesting around two to three times as much PCBs as the limit value allows. If he consumed 100 g of fish from the Krupa, he would absorb 499 times more PCBs than the limit value allows.

Furthermore, according to this study, the river water of the Krupa is in relatively good condition. Regular investigations by public institutions have not yet been carried out in Croatia. Such investigations were only carried out sporadically at the instigation of anglers and fishermen. Investigations were carried out in October 1995 and then again in 2006, when 54.4 mg PCB per kg dry matter were found in a catfish weighing 20 kg that was caught near Bubnarci and in a catfish weighing 30 kg, caught at Levkušje, 26.7 mg. The same results were obtained two years later (catfish weighing 10.3 kg, caught at Ozalj, 33.1 mg PCB per kg). In a catfish caught in the Kolpa near Petrinja in August 2008 , a PCB concentration of 28.3 mg / kg was found.

Slovenian government report

In the framework of the Stockholm Convention, the Slovenian government also analyzed the situation of PCBs in Slovenia in the report National Implementation Plan for the Management of Persistent Organic Pollutants in the Period 2009 - 2013 from July 2009. This particularly highlights the problem of PCB pollution in the Bela krajina. Nowadays, according to the report, there are no longer any increased levels of PCBs in the air, in the soil or in agricultural products, except for occasional water emergencies (presumably flooding ) when the Krupa River is said to still contain PCBs. However, the report points out several times that such cases occur rarely, but are equally unpredictable. It is precisely this unpredictability that prevents the security measures introduced in the polluted area from being lifted. It is explicitly pointed out that although the average PCB contamination of the river water steadily declined in the years 1995–2002 (a graphic in the report shows an approximately hyperbolic curve), there occasionally “relatively strong increases in PCB contamination due to an unknown underground contamination zone “Give. It is claimed that the dynamics of the decrease in pollution can be predicted by means of a model with a probability of greater than 90% and that the effectiveness of the remedial measures can also be checked.

It is worrying that in this report there are several references to shortcomings or the lack of data and systematic studies. On the one hand, it is emphasized that the health of the Slovenian population is not directly endangered according to the currently valid medical doctrine, provided that the existing controls are carried out and the measures and limit values ​​are observed. At the same time, however, it is pointed out that there is insufficient data on the polluted area in Semič . It is also stated that there are no systematic and internationally comparable data on the amount of PCBs in breast milk. In addition, there is a lack of systematic studies in Slovenia on the links between environmental pollution and public health. There are only analyzes of food samples within food controls. So far, the socio-economic studies required by the Stockholm Convention are also missing.

Iskra Semič's PCB emission sources are listed in the report. It is also mentioned that PCB waste was also buried in or near Roma settlements.

According to the report, the following PCB loads (maximum values) were measured in the vicinity of the Krupa River or in the river itself in the period 1982–1986: Air: 1–10 μg / m 3 , water: 100–1000 ng / dm 3 , Sediments: 10–800 mg / kg, soil: 10–100 μg / kg, milk: 1–5 mg / kg, eggs: 1–10 mg / kg, fish: 1–200 mg / kg, poultry: 1–20 mg / kg, human adipose tissue: 1-10 mg / kg.

The PCB concentration at the source of the Krupa was a maximum of 165 ng / L from 1990 to 2001.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Božo Flajšman, "Je v Beli krajini ogroženih nekaj tisoč ljudi? (German: Are several thousand people at risk in the Bela krajina?), With a map of the deposits, Dolenjski list, January 29, 1987.
  2. ↑ Andrej Bartelj: Bo morala zvezne predpise pisati Krupa (German: "Will the federal laws have to write the Krupa?"). In: Dolenjski list . 35th vol., No. 26, June 28, 1984, p. 12.
  3. ↑ a b Borut Mehle: Razpad Zelenih jemljem kot osebni poraz (German: "The disintegration of the Greens (party) is a personal defeat for me"). In: Dnevnik , July 13, 2009.
  4. ↑ a b Government of the Republic of Slovenia: National Implementation Plan for the Management of Persistent Organic Pollutants in the Period 2009 - 2013 (PDF; 1.4 MB). , Ljubljana, July 9, 2009.
  5. ^ S. Brumen, M. Medved, E. Vončina, J. Jan, "A case study of polychlorinated biphenyl contamination of water and sediment in the Slovenian karst region (Yugoslavia)", Chemosphere, Vo. 13, No 11, pp. 1243-1246, 1984.
  6. ↑ Božo Flajšman, "PCB = Pusti crknit Belokranjce (German: Let the Belokrajiner die), Dolenjski list, November 6, 1986, p. 8.
  7. ↑ a b c S. Polič, H. Leskovšek, M. Horvat: PCB Pollution of the Karstic Environment (Krupa River, Slovenia) (PDF file; 111 kB), Acta Carsologica 29/1, 10, Ljubljana 2000, p. 141-152.
  8. ↑ M. Bezek-Jakše, "Opozorilne table ob Krupi" (German: Warning signs on the Krupa), Dolenjski list, September 9, 2010, p. 8.
  9. ^ Photograph of the construction work by A. Bartelj shown in Dolenjski list, Volume 37, No. 41, October 9, 1986, p. 2.
  10. ↑ Věnceslav Lapajne: PREGLEDNA OCENA STANJA OBREMENITEV OKOLJA S PCB V BELI KRAJINI, Z NJIMI POVEZANIH TVEGANJ ZA zdravje LJUDI, Predlog PRIPOROČIL IN UKREPOV ZA PREBIVALCE BELE krajine IN ZA DRUGE DELEŽNIKE, POVEZANE S PREHRANO PREBIVALCEV , ZAVOD ZA zdravstveno varstvo MARIBOR, Institut za varstvo OKOLJA, August 27, 2012, (German: overview of the environmental pollution of the Bela Krajina with PCBs and the associated health risks; recommendations for measures for the population of the Bela krajina with regard to food supply, Maribor Health Department, Institute for Environmental Protection).
  11. ↑ European Commission Dioxins & PCBs: Environmental Levels and Human Exposure in Candidate Countries. (PDF file; 3.9 MB) Brussels, final report of the European Commission from 1994.
  12. ↑ Damir Kundić: Somovi iz Kupe godinama zatrovani smrtonosnim spojem (German: Catfish from the Kolpa are poisoned with lethal substances for years) , online edition of the Croatian newspaper Novi list, Rijeka, November 11, 2012, accessed on February 19, 2013.