Photo: Ambulance parked at Green Forest Orphanage in Kharkiv


I met my daughter, Natasha, in an Ukrainian hospital in the winter of 2000. I was told that she had a cold.


The orphanage doctor didn't want the other children at the orphanage to get sick. So Natasha was transported to the hospital in an ambulance to isolate her. Natasha was 3.5 years of age at the time and she remembers this ambulance ride as fun.


I visited my daughter at the hospital. It was like most public buildings. The building manager struggled to maintain a consistent temperature. Natasha's hospital room, that she shared with 5 other children, was always too hot. But it did have windows which were almost always open. The cold air would rush in and the hot air would rush out. The most comfortable spot in the room (in terms of air temperature) was by the windows.


When I found out that Natasha had bronchitis, I started wondering about air pollution.

Bronchitis is an obstructive pulmonary disease characterized by inflammation of the bronchi of the lungs. It is a common disease of habitual tobacco smokers and residents of polluted cities.


From: Bronchitis

I saw a lot of hazy days in Kharkiv... in other words the air pollution was very visible. It was similar to what I saw in Los Angeles. I later discovered that Kharkiv's air pollution issue was exactly the same one experienced by LA.

Lots of Cars = Air Pollution

Here is one photo of a hazy day in Kharkiv. The buildings in the background aren't fuzzy because of bad photography.

The main source of pollution in large cities is road traffic (75-90% of pollutants). The chemical industry also adds to air pollution by emitting sulphur anhydride, oxides of nitrogen, hydrocarbons, and various volatile organic compounds. In addition, oil refineries also pollute underground waters.


From: April 1, 1997 NATURAL RESOURCE ASPECTS OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN UKRAINE

When I started this blog today, I was wondering if Kharkiv has a high incident of asthma diagnoses. I had asmtha and I understand on a personal level the relationship between air pollution, asmtha attacks and bronchitis. As a child I used to have bronchitis all the time. And my parents smoked 2 packs of cigarettes every day.


So I google'ed "Kharkiv air pollution" and found my answer.

The goal of this research was to understand the relationship between air pollution and the bronchial asthma (BA) rate. Statistical data on the BA disease rate in the Kharkiv District of Kiev during the years 1990–2000 shows that the BA disease rate grows exponentially in the Kharkiv District as well as all across the city.

..............

One of the most notable pollutants in the Kharkiv District was from vehicle sources.



Determining the Influence of Air Pollution Levels on the Bronchial Asthma Disease Rate With GIS