The New Nation - Internet Edition

Monowara Begum Moni

M.A, Diplom Journalist

Recently I did took part in a week long Conference/ Workshop, which was held in Gdansk, northern part on Poland. 21 Journalists and many Experts from different countries took part in this Environment workshop on Baltic Sea.

The main problem of the Baltic Sea is nevertheless to say is the water pollution. Some of the Baltic belt states are trying hard to find a sustainable solution of the problem some countries are not. Especially Russia and Poland. Why not?

Because- tests have shown that some species of Baltic fish have too high levels of dioxin and the EU has called for a ban on sales of fish exceeding permitted levels from July 1. Another problem is Dioxins. It is a - cancer-causing toxic chemical compounds caused by burning plastic, fuel and rubbish - are hard to break down once they get into the food chain. They are also found in dairy products, meat and eggs.

The Baltic Sea has been exposed in the past century to heavy pollution, much of it deriving from industry in Russia's coastal cities of St Petersburg and Kaliningrad.

Sweden is a driving force in efforts to clean up the sea and measures have been taken by the ex-Soviet states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania as they apply for membership of the EU.

Sweden's National Food Administration stresses that eating fish is good for the health.

But it says young girls and women of child-bearing age should not eat herring and salmon from the Baltic Sea more than once a month. For other consumers the recommendation is once a week.

The pollution is mainly air-borne and drifts in on southwest winds from Germany and Britain, and from combustion in the Baltic region countries.

Sweden's Commission on Marine Environment has warned that the Baltic Sea is in a "critical" condition and in danger of dying unless pollution from the Russian city of St Petersberg is drastically cut.

Nine countries share the Baltic Sea coastline; Sweden and Finland to the north, Russia, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to the east, followed by Poland in the south, and Germany and Denmark in the west. About 16 million people live on the coast, and around 80 million in the entire catchment area of the Baltic Sea.

The catchment area includes part of Belarus, the Czech Republic, Norway, the Slovak Republic and Ukraine, as some of the rivers find their sources here. The Baltic is the world's biggest brackish sea - a peculiar mix of sea and lake, salt water and fresh. Its bed is a mix of ridges and troughs that trap pollutants, and starve fish and plant life of oxygen.

And because it only has a narrow outlet to the ocean - between Sweden and Denmark - the water takes 25-30 years to refresh itself. Hypoxia, a growing worldwide problem, has been intermittently present in the modern Baltic Sea Physical processes, which control stratification and the renewal of oxygen in bottom waters, are important constraints on the formation and maintenance of hypoxia. Climate controlled inflows of saline water from the North Sea through the Danish Straits is a critical controlling factor governing the spatial extent and duration of hypoxia. Hypoxia regulates the biogeochemical cycles of both phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N) in the water column and sediments. Significant amounts of P are currently released from sediments, an order of magnitude larger than anthropogenic inputs. The Baltic Sea is unique for coastal marine ecosystems experiencing N losses in hypoxic waters below the halocline. Although benthic communities in the Baltic Sea are naturally constrained by salinity gradients, hypoxia has resulted in habitat loss over vast areas and the elimination of benthic fauna, and has severely disrupted benthic food webs.

The Helsinki Commission, or, HELCOM's vision for the future is a healthy Baltic Sea environment with diverse biological components functioning in balance, resulting in a good ecological status and supporting a wide range of sustainable economic and social activities..

Aims:

This main objective of the Pollution Load Compilation (PLC-5 ) report is to:

o quantify and describe the waterborne discharges from point sources and losses from non-point pollution sources as well as the quantified natural background losses into inland surface waters (source oriented approach) within the catchment area of the Baltic Sea

o quantify and describe the loads (from rivers, unmonitored and coastal areas as well as point sources) discharging directly to the Baltic Sea (load oriented approach);

o evaluate changes in the pollution load since 1994;

o explain to which extent changes are caused by human activities or natural variations; and overall evaluate the significance of various water protection measures applied in the Baltic Sea catchment area to reduce the pollution load from land-based sources.

According to the draft action plan, Poland has undertake measures aimed at reducing the nitrogen and phosphorus levels in the sea, which mainly originate from sewage water and maritime traffic. In Hell, near Baltic coast, is the Poland's biggest sewage plant, which now supplies refined water to the Sea.

Same case is in Bangladesh, because of The Buriganga river is also being harmed by "nutrients" from fertilizer used in agriculture and with Arsenic problem. To find out the Arsenic problems in Bangladesh water I had make an investigative research.

For example: Green Revolution" known as the" Fertilizer introduced by the North, possibly contaminated ground water of Bangladesh and India.

EU approved a budget period, which will be starting in 2014. But The implementation of environmental measures, for instance reducing the levels of toxic substances in the Buriganga, heavily depends on the cooperation with India.

The Bangladesh Government should promote and support the development of regional approaches and co-operation to combat organised crime, particularly in border regions. Here could also be solution like Poland's sewage plant.

The human health effects of arsenic exposure from drinking water are a major public health issue not only in Bangladesh but in other countries worldwide, including the US, China, Chile, Argentina, Australia, Mexico, Taiwan, Vietnam, and West Bengal (India). It is estimated that over 100 million people in the world are chronically exposed to arsenic through drinking water. Arsenic poisoning in drinking water remains a global problem.. Contaminated well water poses the biggest threat of arsenic in Bangladesh. More than 2.5 million wells provide water to over 95% of the population.

Thus, the dwindling supply of water in the dry season has become one of the key issues between India and Bangladesh. The situation is particularly critical for Bangladesh, as about 80% of its annual fresh water supply comes as Tran boundary inflows through 54 common rivers with India.

Since millions of people in the Bangladeshi population have already accrued decades of chronic arsenic exposure, a worsening epidemic of arsenic-induced cancers in Bangladesh is inevitable.

Long-term studies from Taiwan have shown that once chronically exposed, an arsenic-exposed population continues to experience an elevated risk of cancers even several decades after the exposure has ceased.

Scientists have estimated that the lifetime risk of deaths due to arsenic-induced cancers in the Bangladeshi population could be double. They suggest that, in addition to the efforts to provide the Bangladeshi population with arsenic-free water, auxiliary interventions are also needed.

The arsenic hazard in Bangladesh villagers now appeared as a 'real disaster', affecting thousands physically, physiologically, mentally and economically; it is intensifying malnutrition, poverty and destitution among the already poor villagers. The future of the Bangladesh villages are jeopardized.

The British Geological Survey reports(2001) even normal amounts(1-10mg/kg) of arsenic are sufficient to give excessive arsenic in the groundwater if dissolved or desorbed in sufficient quantity..

The World Bank gave a $32.4 million credit to Bangladesh in August 1998, and many would like to see the government move toward more effective facilitating of services to local communities that are willing to invest in water sanitation measures but lack the opportunity to do so. Without any major efforts that would most likely be planned and facilitated by the government, few options remain to provide safe water. Unfortunately after 11 years, this problem remains the same as it was before.

Water problem from Baltic to Buriganga almost same, but a big difference between this two waterways are the consciousness of the both continents. I would like to urge the Asians, to react like the Europeans to take measures for sustainable water.

The time has come to take immediate action against Arsenic problem in Bangladesh following the Baltic solutions.