UrBC, Yekaterinburg, January 25, 2011. ‘People living in the vicinity of A.K. Serov Metallurgical Plant are expected to face significant health risks due to the impact of nitrogen oxide and fine dust,’ Sverdlovsk Region division of Rospotrebnadzor (the state environmental watchdog) announced in the course of a committee meeting.

The meeting was dedicated to the introduction of sanitary protection areas around industrial enterprises.

‘The division gauged the health risks for the inhabitants of Sverdlovsk Region’s environmentally unfriendly towns; the accumulated risk of cancer that an individual is faced with falls within the third-range limit, which is acceptable for professional groups and unacceptable for general populace. The emergence of such risks means some curative measures must be devised and taken,’ the division says.