The problem

DDT was widely used in Russia in the 1950s for the suppression of the Siberian silkworm. Although officially banned in the USSR in 1970, DDT continued to be used until the late 1980s. Significant amounts of DDT remain unused and stored n the Bakcharskaya region around the city of Tomsk.

Following the fall of communism in 1991, many DDT storage areas were left in neglect and some warehouses where DDT and other pesticides are stored have since collapsed, posing serious risks to the environment and human health. An inspection by the local environmental agency of Tomsk in 2002-2003 discovered 3 tons of DDT stored in local hangars, with reports that some DDT had already leaked out into the surrounding environment and the `Big Daw' settlement area.

Health Impact

How can DDT affect my health?
DDT affects the nervous system. People who accidentally swallowed large amounts of DDT became excitable and had tremors and seizures. These effects went away after the exposure stopped. No effects were seen in people who took small daily doses of DDT by capsule for 18 months.

A study in humans showed that women who had high amounts of a form of DDE in their breast milk were unable to breast feed their babies for as long as women who had little DDE in the breast milk. Another study in humans showed that women who had high amounts of DDE in breast milk had an increased chance of having premature babies.

Current Activity

With the Blacksmith Institute's support, the Regional Committee for Environmental Preservation and Wildlife Management, along with local agricultural cooperative and other local groups, will assess the condition of these storage facilities and either collect and transport the DDT to a designated area 225 km away for safe burial, or rebuild the storage facilities in order to make them secure. The group will also advocate and plan for the remediation of the areas already polluted by the leaked DDT.

The area will be re-surfaced with clean soil and landscaped with various shrubs to prevent erosion. The area will be monitored by state and local agencies.

Outcome

About 2.5 tons of DDT and other obsolete pesticides were removed from a leaky storehouse in the center of town and taken to a safe storage area. Blacksmith Institute funded the local government to safely package and transport these dangerous chemical to safe storage, away from the schools and markets where they were previously stored.