Third-year environmental science students took a field trip to the Air Pollution Monitoring Laboratory in Uzhhorod

The regional capital of Zakarpattia remains a city with high levels of air pollution—ranking 15th out of 39 cities surveyed

This tour is traditionally led by Lyudmila Trapeznikova, an associate professor in the Department of Ecology and Environmental Protection.

The students were introduced to the facility’s work by chemist and chief specialist Svitlana Tymoshchuk and observer Andriy Lobko. In particular, the students learned about the operations of two stationary monitoring stations that track air quality in the regional capital of Zakarpattia.

“Over the past 5 years, air pollution in the city has increased with regard to copper, iron, nitrogen oxide, chromium, nickel, lead, and cadmium. At the same time, the levels of nitrogen dioxide, zinc, formaldehyde, and sulfur dioxide have decreased. Pollution levels of soluble sulfates, carbon monoxide, and manganese remained unchanged. Thus, the results of long-term observations confirm that Uzhhorod is among the cities with high levels of air pollution,” noted S. Tymoshchuk.

In turn, A. Lobko demonstrated the measurement process at an air quality monitoring station.

The interns also learned that such measurements are conducted in 39 cities across Ukraine. As of 2017, Uzhhorod ranks 15th in terms of air pollution levels. This is primarily due to the large volume of traffic, particularly older vehicles from abroad, its geographical location (situated in a basin between volcanic ridges), its cross-border position, climatic conditions, and other factors.

Students enjoy these trips, as evidenced by the reviews.

Rostislav Verteletsky: “This year’s summer internship is designed to familiarize us with the work of environmental agencies and see their operations through the eyes of their employees. I think this will be very useful in the future. Today’s tour turned out to be very informative and interesting. Thank you to Lyudmila Vitalievna for organizing this event, and to the staff for the tour and the books they gave us.”

Volodymyr Poturaiev: “I am impressed by the high level of knowledge among the laboratory staff, their openness and sincerity, and their willingness to share their knowledge and experience with younger colleagues. I learned a lot of interesting things about the state of the atmosphere in my hometown.”

Olga Brailian