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Gut feelings for cholera
Marine Pollution Bulletin
Pollution Azerbaijan style.
milestone of a deal expected to stretch over a number of decades. As part of the deal, the petroleum industry will need to demonstrate its ability to minimise environmental risks before any activities get underway. One important aspect involved in this challenge will be to assess existing pollution within the Caspian and effects this has had on the marine environment. British Petroleum (BP) is one member of the Western Oil Consortium which has already addressed this issue, undertaking a biological and hydrographical survey within the Chirag field in 1992. Pollution within the Caspian has been an issue of concern for considerable time, and one that was raised during the Soviet Regime. Untreated wastes and pollution from industrial activities, including oil and gas activities, have been reported through a number of different sources. In 1985 the Water Conservancy Directorate of the Southern Caspian Republics of Azerbaijan, Dagestan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan calculated that industry had dumped 10,200 tonnes of oil products and 104,200 tonnes of sewage into the sea. According to one Azeri conservation committee, noncompliance of the offshore oil and gas industry to ecological regulations in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian has resulted in severe contamination and damage to the marine environment. However, not all traces of oil within the Caspian can be attributed to anthropogenic sources, a number of natural seepages of oil also occur from mud volcanoes on the seabed, contributing to the levels of oil found in seabed sediments and the water column. It is hoped that the survey completed by BP and any further similar work conducted within the area will encourage exchange of information between, and collaboration of, Azeri and Western scientists so that they can work together towards a better understanding of pollution and the marine environment' within the Caspian Sea. LIZ HOPKINS 716
Gut Feelings for Cholera As a result of a recent cholera 'scare', the attention of the Hong Kong public has been drawn to the threats that water pollution problems can pose to human health. In early August 1994, 23 cases of cholera were confirmed in Hong Kong, this against a background of 1-3 sporadic local occurrences per year in the years 1986-1992 and 17 isolated cases in 1993. Unhygienically-handled fruits and cold foods used to be the prime suspects for cholera cases in Hong Kong, but the recent identification of cholera-causing pathogens in water samples collected from seafood holding tanks in local restaurants suggests that contaminated seafood may have been the culprit in previous cases. The alarm triggered a large scale territory-wide examination by the relevant government departments of the quality of seawater used for seafood holding. Many suppliers of sea water to local restaurants were obtaining their water from typhoon shelters, into which much of urban Hong Kong's untreated sewage is still discharged. Although the immediate threat to public health has now passed, this cholera scare has, ironically, served the benign purpose of warning the people of Hong Kong in a somewhat bitter way of the dangers of water pollution. S. Y. L E E
Ozone Hole Depletion Worsens The ozone hole over the South Pole is" the deepest on record according to the World Meteorological Society (WMS). Figures gained from Antarctic monitoring stations has led the United Nations agency to state the level to be 70% lower during this September than 10 years ago (at the start of monitoring). In 1991 the eruption of Mount Pinatubo had occurred in the Philippines, and was known to have reduced ozone
Pollution Azerbaijan style.
milestone of a deal expected to stretch over a number of decades. As part of the deal, the petroleum industry will need to demonstrate its ability to minimise environmental risks before any activities get underway. One important aspect involved in this challenge will be to assess existing pollution within the Caspian and effects this has had on the marine environment. British Petroleum (BP) is one member of the Western Oil Consortium which has already addressed this issue, undertaking a biological and hydrographical survey within the Chirag field in 1992. Pollution within the Caspian has been an issue of concern for considerable time, and one that was raised during the Soviet Regime. Untreated wastes and pollution from industrial activities, including oil and gas activities, have been reported through a number of different sources. In 1985 the Water Conservancy Directorate of the Southern Caspian Republics of Azerbaijan, Dagestan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan calculated that industry had dumped 10,200 tonnes of oil products and 104,200 tonnes of sewage into the sea. According to one Azeri conservation committee, noncompliance of the offshore oil and gas industry to ecological regulations in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian has resulted in severe contamination and damage to the marine environment. However, not all traces of oil within the Caspian can be attributed to anthropogenic sources, a number of natural seepages of oil also occur from mud volcanoes on the seabed, contributing to the levels of oil found in seabed sediments and the water column. It is hoped that the survey completed by BP and any further similar work conducted within the area will encourage exchange of information between, and collaboration of, Azeri and Western scientists so that they can work together towards a better understanding of pollution and the marine environment' within the Caspian Sea. LIZ HOPKINS 716
Gut Feelings for Cholera As a result of a recent cholera 'scare', the attention of the Hong Kong public has been drawn to the threats that water pollution problems can pose to human health. In early August 1994, 23 cases of cholera were confirmed in Hong Kong, this against a background of 1-3 sporadic local occurrences per year in the years 1986-1992 and 17 isolated cases in 1993. Unhygienically-handled fruits and cold foods used to be the prime suspects for cholera cases in Hong Kong, but the recent identification of cholera-causing pathogens in water samples collected from seafood holding tanks in local restaurants suggests that contaminated seafood may have been the culprit in previous cases. The alarm triggered a large scale territory-wide examination by the relevant government departments of the quality of seawater used for seafood holding. Many suppliers of sea water to local restaurants were obtaining their water from typhoon shelters, into which much of urban Hong Kong's untreated sewage is still discharged. Although the immediate threat to public health has now passed, this cholera scare has, ironically, served the benign purpose of warning the people of Hong Kong in a somewhat bitter way of the dangers of water pollution. S. Y. L E E
Ozone Hole Depletion Worsens The ozone hole over the South Pole is" the deepest on record according to the World Meteorological Society (WMS). Figures gained from Antarctic monitoring stations has led the United Nations agency to state the level to be 70% lower during this September than 10 years ago (at the start of monitoring). In 1991 the eruption of Mount Pinatubo had occurred in the Philippines, and was known to have reduced ozone