[Cell phone communication: hygienic characteristics, biological action, standardization (a review)].

The paper considers the topical issues concerning the functioning of the cellular communication system. It provides the hygienic characteristics of its individual elements. The factors influencing the size of an electromagnetic field generated by mobile phones are stated. Research data on the impact of electromagnetic radiation from a mobile phone on users' health are reviewed. The pivots of present-day Russian hygienic rating regarding the permissible exposures to nonionizing electromagnetic energy generated by the elements of the cellular communication system are identified.

[Hygienic aspects of iodine deficiency diseases in the Tomsk Region].

The impact of the content of iodine and other trace elements in the environmental objects of the Tomsk Region on the development of iodine-deficiency diseases was studied in children. Slightly sour soils and low soil humus levels in the Tomsk Region were ascertained to be conducive to low iodine content in soils and plants. As compared with the clarke of iodine in the lithosphere, the soils in the Tomsk Region were marked by low iodine levels, permitting it to be, in terms of endemic goiter, referred to as a biogeochemical province. The soils of rural areas in the Tomsk Region were characterized by the specific trace element composition--the high content of molybdenum and copper and the low level of zinc, which is a factor that is of importance in the development of endemic goiter. In children, daily dietary requirements for iodine were met at 60% of the normal levels, those for animal proteins at 50%, at the same time there was deficiency of amino acid tyrosine, the substrate involved in the synthesis of thyroid hormones. Endemic goiter occupies 80% in the structure of thyroid diseases. There is a considerable predominance of early goiter forms over severer ones. In terms of the level of ioduria, 64% of the examined children had mild iodine deficiency.

[Actual diet of children in orphanages]. / Fakticheskoe pitanie detei, prozhivaiushchikh v detskom dome.

The account of quantitative and qualitative structure of diets of children of children's houses has revealed infringements in organisation of mode of a meals, and also unbalance of diet on structure of food substances, including on iodine, that can promote development of iodine-dependence diseases.

[Role of selenium in the etiology and prevention of diseases (review)]. / Rol' selena v razvitii i preduprezhdenii zabolevanii (obzor).

The data of reports by Russian and foreign authors on the biological effect of selenium are summarized. Some investigations have revealed its high toxic and carcinogenic properties in the selenium-rich biogeochemical provinces. Low-selenium diet has a human unfavourable impact. Recent studies have provided evidence for that is severe selenium deficiency in the environmental objects and foodstuffs virtually throughout the former USSR. At present selenium is recognized to be an essential trace element for human health. Selenium preparations in therapeutical doses have high antioxidative and anticarcinogenic activities. The types of medicinal plant materials that has a pronounced capacity to selectively accumulate selenium from the soil have been defined. Moreover, there are medicinal plants which are selenium concentrators that have high biological accumulation coefficients. Experimental and clinical findings indicate that selenium-containing drugs and medicinal plants should be recommended as an compulsory food additive in selenium-deficient areas for treatment and prophylaxis.

[Malignant neoplasms in the Republic of Altai]. / Zlokachestvennye novoobrazovaniia v Respublike Altai.

Mortality due to malignant neoplasms was studied in the Republic of Altai (RA) in 1993-1998. Males and females in RA die from cancer at a younger age than those in other regions of Russia. By the main cancer sites, the mean age of deceased males is 2.3-9.1 years less than that of females. Comparison of mortality rates in Russia and RA revealed increased proportion of cancer of the trachea, bronchus, lung in males and females, as well as greater proportion of gastric cancer in males and of esophageal cancer in females. Maps of the standardized index of cancer mortality was made, which clearly show the distribution of mortality rates by the administrative RA districts. High cancer risk districts were identified due to the ranging the territory by the rates of deaths from all cancer sites, from cancer of the trachea, bronchus, lung, stomach, liver, blood, and lymphatic.

[Land and space hygienic monitoring of environment quality]. / Nazemno-kosmicheskii gigienicheskii monitoring kachestva okruzhaiushchei sredy.

Monitoring of changes occurring in the environment and human health is a basic way of solving the problem of the optimal society-biosphere interaction. The initiated ecological and hygienic studies using the space facilities and techniques of remote probing of the Earth's surface create prerequisites for the land and space monitoring of biospheric solution, for the assessment of the anthropoecological situation and for the prediction environment-related diseases in the population.

[Identification of zones with various levels of industrial air pollution based on space photography data]. / Identifikatsiia zon s razlichnym urovnem tekhnogennogo zagriazneniia atmosfernogo vozdukha po dannym kosmicheskoi s"ëmki territorii.

A methodological approaches and use of aerospace information for atmospheric air purity control are described. Image brightness was used as a major parameter for distinction of zones with different contamination levels. An optic contrast level of tested town zones was found changing in accordance with index of atmospheric pollution determined by ground means.

[The optimization of sample preparation for the analysis of the content of carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons]. / Optimizatsiia podgotovki prob k analizu na soderzhanie kantserogennykh politsiklicheskikh aromaticheskikh uglevodorodov.

Issues in preparation of samples of the environment for benzo(a)pyrene level assay are discussed. Certain procedures of sample preparation are described. A new method allowing better extraction of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from solid samples is suggested.

[Epidemiological study of malignant neoplasm mortality among workers in the rubber footwear factory]. / Epidemiologicheskoe izuchenie smertnosti ot zlokachestvennykh novoobrazovanii rabochikh predpriiatii po vypusku rezinovykh izdelii.

Oncoepidemic study was undertaken in order to determine the level of oncologic risk. The risk of death from malignant neoplasms in workers engaged in rubber production was higher by 4-4.7 times than in the city population. Maximum risk of death in males was associated with cancer of bladder and kidneys, esophagus, and larynx, in females with cancer of esophagus, larynx, and intestine. Standardized death rates from all malignant neoplasms in the males engaged in rubber production exceeded that of females by 1. 4. Life expectancy of workers of the main industrial shops was lower than in the control group.