Thursday, October 8, 2020

Mysterious Poison in Russian Coast Water

Posted by Nathaniel Renner

Recent news articles from CBS News and The Washington Post reported that in the recent weeks’ surfers and locals of the far eastern peninsula of Kamchatka, Russia have been reporting discolored water, a mass die-off of ocean wildlife, and a “poison-like” effect after exposure to the water. The symptoms of the “poison-like” effect have been described as “White shroud, blurred vision, dryness. Sore throat,” by some surfers, as well as many surfers reporting “nausea, weakness, [and a] high fever”. Originally the local government officials claimed there were no problems releasing a statement saying “The color of the water is normal, the smell of the air is normal, the beach is completely clean. . . . Nothing anomalous was recorded.” However, after much outcry from the continuing mass die-off, the local acting Minister of Natural Resources and Ecology, Aleksei Kumarkov, reported that upon analyzing a sample of water levels of petroleum products were revealed to be at four-times what they should be, and levels of the toxic compound Phenol at over two-times the normal levels.

Figure 1: Structure of Phenol

Figure 2: Map showing the location of Kamchatka, Russia 

Phenol is an aromatic organic compound that is composed of a phenyl group bonded to a hydroxy group. Phenol is mildly acidic and can cause chemical burns to the skin in high concentrations. Phenol and its vapors are corrosive to the eyes, the skin, and the respiratory tract. It can also be absorbed through the skin relatively quickly and even with only a small area of skin, meaning oral consumption is not necessary. Contact with Phenol may cause harmful effects to the central nervous system (CNS) and heart leading to dysrhythmia, seizures, and coma. Repeated exposure to phenol can be harmful to the liver, kidneys, reproductive organs and could be possibly fatal as the LD50 has been reported at around 140 mg/kg or a total dose of 1-32g for humans. The toxic and corrosive effects are due to a protein-degenerating effect as well as the formation of phenoxyl radicals. When comparing the side effects of Phenol poisoning and the reported side effects of the surfers who have been exposed to the water, there appears to be a match. The surfers reported blurred vision, sore throats, and weakness which match well to Phenol’s effect on the eyes, respiratory tracts, and CNS. Phenol is also toxic to fish and other sea life at levels of 0.05 mg/L which would explain the mass die-off being seen.

Figure 3: Ariel Footage showing discoloration in the water surrounding Kamchatka


Figure 4: Deceased Sea life from mass die-off on the shores of Kamchatka 

While the source of the petroleum products and the toxic Phenol is currently unknown the Russia Government has begun to take the situation more seriously and there are some preliminary theories of what the source could be. The regional government has started an investigation into the cause and the governor of Kamchatka, Vladimir Solodov, said more samples of the water had been sent to Moscow for analysis, and he promised to fire anyone who is found to have deliberately tried to cover up or embellish the crisis at it initial surfacing. Some locals have theorized that the source is from military training exercises but Russia defense ministry has denied this claim. As of now the prevailing theory from Russia’s Tass news agency reports that a commercial oil tanker was likely the source. This is very plausible as phenol is a common waste product of petroleum refining.

Sources:

 

 





 

Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)