T. N. Ashurbekova, N. G. Isaeva, A. N. Murzaeva, E. M. Musinova, Z. G. Gadzhimusaeva, R. А. Abduragimov
Section: Monitoring of anthropogenically disturbed areas
Water quality is an essential part of a human life. The availability of high-quality drinking water is one of the main
issues in Russia. One of the most important directions of economic and social development of the Chechen Republic
is to provide the population with clean drinking water. The paper presents the results of research of drinking water
quality in artesian wells in the Chechen Republic. Artesian well water in stanitsa of Chervlyonnaya in Shelkovskoy
District, stanitsa of Naurskaya in Naursky District and stanitsa of Petropavlovskaya in Groznensky District of the
Chechen Republic contains heavy metals, such as cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb) and arsenic (As). The presence of heavy
metals in the above-mentioned artesian wells can be attributed to the geological structure of the territory of the Chechen
Republic situated on the rocks of Jurassic and Paleogene age. As confirmed by measurements, samples of water were
found to have cadmium levels above the maximum permissible concentration (water taken from wells in stanitsa of
Chervlyonnaya – 5 times, stanitsa of Naurskaya – 7 times and stanitsa of Petropavlovskaya – 9 times). The content
of lead in all the samples exceeded the MPC by 4–5 times. The samples also contained arsenic at levels that exceeded
the maximum permissible concentration by 4.8 times in stanitsa of Chervlyonnaya, by 1.5 times in stanitsa of Naurskaya and by 6.2 times in stanitsa of Petropavlovskaya. Arsenic, lead and cadmium are toxic elements and long-term
exposure to them is known to cause cancer. Multi-year studies of public health in the Chechen Republic show increase
of cancer rates among the population.
Keywords: artesian water, heavy metals, lead, cadmium, arsenic, maximum permissible concentration, oncologic diseases
Article published in number 3 for 2018 DOI: 10.25750/1995-4301-2018-3-040-047