Impact of Hazardous Toxic Factors of Fires During Military Actions on Ecosystems and Population Life Activities

Abstract

It has been analysed that wildfires are the most influential factor in environmental pollution. The ecological consequences of wildfires consist primarily of atmospheric air pollution with carbon monoxide, products of combustion of combustible materials, and the burning of oxygen. Plant combustion also contributes significantly to planetary environmental changes: climate warming, ozone depletion, acid rain, chemical and radioactive pollution of the atmosphere, water, and soil. With wildfires, soot particles, that is, carbon and products of incomplete combustion of wood, enter the air. Smoke, which is formed during fires, explosions, ignitions, etc., during the combustion of plant biomass (grasses, leaves from trees and shrubs, mosses, lichens, peatlands, forest litter and needles), is an aerosol-gas mixture containing hazardous substances dangerous to the environment and humans. Biomass burning is a global source of gas and dust pollution of the atmosphere and is considered one of the determining factors of ecotoxicological risks for public health. The negative impact of fires from military actions on the human body is acute and delayed. Acute exposure leads to hypoxia due to carbon oxides, increased consumption of oxygen from the air during combustion, irritation of the respiratory tract, and difficulty breathing. Delayed exposure is due to toxic, mutagenic, and carcinogenic effects. The toxic impact of fires on the life and health of the population is not only a threat to life but also an adverse effect on human organisms of heavy compounds of chemical substances represented by the combustion products of plant biomass of forests, peatlands, vast agricultural lands, including crop rotations and pastures. Often, this impact occurs in combination with typical atmospheric air pollution: emissions from industrial enterprises and motor vehicles. The peculiarity of such a combination is the complex synergistic effects of chemical compounds and high air temperature with significant relative duration (decades, months) of emergency environmental situations. Keywords: toxic factors, fires, ecosystem, human activity.