<
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/mar/13/destruction-of-ukraine-kakhovka-dam-caused-toxic-timebomb-in-rivers-study-finds>
"The destruction of a large Ukrainian dam in 2023 triggered a “toxic timebomb”
of environmental harm, a study has found.
Lakebed sediments holding 83,000 tonnes of heavy metals were exposed when the
Kakhovka dam was blown up one year into Russia’s invasion, researchers found.
Less than 1% of these “highly toxic” heavy metals – which include lead, cadmium
and nickel – are likely to have been released when the reservoir drained, the
scientists found. They said the remaining pollutants would leach into rivers as
rains wore down the sediment, threatening human health in a region where river
water is widely used to make up for shortages in municipal water supplies.
The lead author, Oleksandra Shumilova, said the scale of the environmental
impacts was comparable to the Chornobyl nuclear disaster.
“All these pollutants that were deposited on the bottom can accumulate in
different organisms, pass through the food web, and spread from vegetation to
animals to humans,” said Shumilova, a scientist at the Leibniz Institute of
Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries. “Its consequences can be compared to
the effects of radiation.”"
Via Susan ****
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
