When the USSR disintegrated, there were no plans in place to get rid of these large chemical stockpiles, so they were dumped in ditches or left unchecked in empty buildings. These chemicals are among the world’s 12 most toxic including DDT, the pesticide, and Polychlorinated biphenyls, which were used in paint production.
Unless they are safely stored and controlled, these chemicals can easily disperse into the environment, quickly covering large distances, coming into contact with crops and entering the water system. They can also accumulate in the tissue of living organisms and cause damage to the reproductive and endocrine system, hormonal disruptions, neurological disorders and birth defects. So even an unborn child can be affected by chemicals in the water supply or from the mother’s food.
Olga Seranskaya, a Lead fellow, became increasingly concerned by the spread of these persistent organic pollutants, or POPs as they became known – highly toxic chemicals that threaten our environment, ourselves and our future. Nothing was being done to contain the problem, so Olga set her sights on cleaning up the stockpiles, a difficult task made more so by the lack of information on their size and location.
But Olga and her team were determined and resourceful. She engaged with different organisations to inform them about the continuing environmental threat posed by POPs ; she connected grassroots organisations with government organisations, getting them to work collaboratively in order to identify, monitor and clean up these stockpiles. Over the years she developed a network of government and non-government organisations, all working together to raise awareness of this serious environmental problem. ‘The most important part to the success of raising awareness about toxic chemicals is to provide interest with organisations’, Olga said. ‘Chemical safety is about all of us. It’s very scary, but informing organisations about the reality is how we gain support.’
Olga’s ongoing awareness campaign was an outstanding success and delivered impressive results in helping to eradicate POPs. And her work continues today, she provides regular updates and information about the threat of toxic chemicals in the environment and she continues to strive for their elimination.
Olga says that Lead taught her and other fellows how to communicate and demonstrate their ideas:
‘Our success is Lead’s success. Networking unites people of different cultures and backgrounds and helps to achieve a common understanding of very complicated issues. Lead was really the first and most important experience to see how the international community really functions.
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