Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 22, 2025

Removal of Trace Elements by Cupric Oxide Nanoparticles from Uranium In Situ Recovery Bleed Water and Its Effect on Cell Viability
Published on: June 21, 2015
Effect of Power Plant Ash and Slag Disposal on the Environment and Population Health in Ukraine
Oleksandr Popov1,2, Andrii Iatsyshyn1,2, Valeriia Kovach1,3
1Institute of Environmental Geochemistry, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine.
Background:
Ash and slag disposal areas of Ukrainian thermal power plants accumulate large amounts of waste annually.
Objectives:
The aim of the present study was to analyze the composition of ash and slag wastes generated during combustion of coal at Ukrainian thermal power plants and the potential affects of disposal areas on the environment.
Methods:
A literature search was conducted using the Google search engine to access online academic publications indexed in Google Scholar, PubMed, Scopus, Clarivate Analytics (Web of Science), ScienceDirect, ResearchGate and Springer Link from 2011 in English and Ukrainian.
Results:
After analyzing the 25 academic articles included in the present review, the results indicated that hazardous constituents (oxides of silicon, aluminium, iron, calcium and magnesium) of ash can migrate from the ash dump surface by air and water to contaminate the atmosphere, soil, groundwater and surface water in areas located within a few kilometers from the waste site.
Conclusions:
By-products of the fuel and energy complex of Ukraine are potentially dangerous sources of environmental pollution. They create risks to the health of the population living in the surrounding territories. Further studies should focus on the features of pollutant transfer from ash dumps, and development of appropriate mathematical models of the pollutant migration to assess pollution levels in soil, groundwater and air.
Competing Interests:
The authors declare no competing financial interests.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Types of Toxins
Air pollutants, primarily gases, pose significant threats to respiratory health, leading to conditions like hypoxia, lung cancer, and in extreme cases, death.
Environmental pollutants like...
Biological Effects of Radiation
Deleterious Substances in Aggregate
Another type of impurity is clay and fine material that...
Toxic Reactions: Overview
Toxicity falls into two primary categories: local and systemic.
Local toxicity appears at the exposure site, such as protein denaturation caused by caustic substances.
In contrast, systemic toxicity requires the toxic agent's absorption and distribution,...

