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Chromatography-mass spectrometric identification of chemical pollutants released into the ambient air and water prior to and after microbiotic purification facilities, as well as those contained in the sludge has indicated a risk from underestimation of transformation and biotransformation products resulting from the influence of biological factors. Methods for physicochemical analysis have demonstrated to be of importance for adequate hygienic evaluation of the safety and efficiency of novel technologies for biological purification of atmospheric emissions and industrial and household sewage.

Improving the chemoanalytical quality control of the urban environment requires transition from the assessment considering only certain things determined by target analyses to the comprehensive assessment based on monitoring with the identification of the maximally complete spectra of substances contained in the environmental objects and coming from the sources of pollution, by using the appropriate algorithm; identification, quantifying a spectrum of pollutants as completely as possible; selection of the leading indices, by evaluating the detected composition of pollutions from the degree of their hygienic significance, by taking into account a set of criteria (detection rate, concentrations, group affiliation, specificity for a nearby source of pollution in the check of drinking water, a capacity for transformation, possible formation of more toxic transformation products); and monitoring through target tests by the chosen leading indices.

The paper considers the significance of complex entrance of chloroform from portable water into the human body (enterally, inhalationally, and through the intact skin). It shows it necessary to toughen the maximum permissible concentration (MPC) of chloroform in the portable drinking, by taking into account of the multiplicity of routes of its action on the population. The authors present the results of their own investigations of the levels of chloroform in the air of bath and shower rooms before and after taking a shower and filling the bath with water, as well as in the airspace layer above the water of an indoor swimming pool, by using chromatographic mass-spectrometry.

The article presents a comparative analysis of chemical substances which are formed in natural waters with different concentrations of humic and fulvic acids under the influence of ozone and chlorine, as a result of electrochemical processing. The authors present thermodynamic evaluation of the probability of the formation of transformation products under the influence of oxidizing reagents and during anode oxidation, and demonstrate the effectiveness of electrochemical purification of natural waters from humic compounds by cathode activated carbon. The scheme of a device to perform this process has been developed.

The study examined the potential genotoxic activity and the impact of artificial air ionization on lifespan. Experiments on Drosophila melanogaster demonstrated that exposure of the lung to negative (5 x 10(4), 5 x 10(5), and 10(6) ion/cm3) and slight positive (5 x 10(4), 5 x 10(5), and 10(6) ion/cm3) airoions generated on the electrodes at direct-current voltage failed to increase the frequency of dominant lethal mutations in the gametes and to affect the life-span of male flies. Exposure of the flies to deionized air increased the rate of early embryonic lethal mutations.

A combination of two approaches to assessing the carcinogenic and mutagenic potentials of industrial waste is proposed. One approach includes determination of the carcinogenic and mutagenic properties of individual chemicals of waste, the other involves biological indication of the cumulative mutagenic activity of waste samples. The mutagenic potential of some waste samples of aircraft industry was determined.

Transformation of organic substances in ambient air was studied. Qualitative and quantitative changes of organic substances composition under the influence of meteorological factors (temperature, humidity, ultraviolet radiation) and nitrogen dioxide were observed.

It is for the first time that chromato-mass-spectrometry has been used to examine human wastes. The data on the excretion rate of specific organic compounds can be employed to predict the content of toxic metabolites in the enclosed environment, to give their biomedical characterization, and to diagnose unfavorable changes in the body.

Conditions for extraction, desorption and concentration of specific substances, such as metabolites, and characteristics of their gas-chromatographic division and mass-spectrometric identification have been established. A library for mass-spectra of specific metabolite compounds characteristic of various diseases has been set up. Computer programs for metabolite analysis and for diagnosis were modified. An experimental introduction of chromatographic-mass-spectrometric diagnosis into practice in a number of hospitals and research institutions for prophylactic medical examination of people will make it possible to quickly accumulate statistic data and create the necessary data bank.