Prague, Oct 12 (CTK) – The Spolana chemical firm in Neratovice, central Bohemia, again tops the rankings of the biggest Czech polluters in 2015, which the environmental association Arnika presented yesterday.
Arnika said the quantity of carcinogenic substances released by firms decreased year-on-year for a second time.
However, the quantity of endocrine disruptors which can have harmful effects on the body’s hormone system, substances harming the ozone layer of the Earth and dioxins has increased.
Other large polluters are Kovohute Holding DZ in Mnisek pod Brdy, central Bohemia, which released a much bigger quantity of dioxins in waste, and the Peter GFK laminate producer in Trhovy Stepanov, central Bohemia, which released almost 12 tonnes of potentially carcinogenic styrene more than one year before.
Most polluters are in the regions of Moravia-Silesia, Usti (north Bohemia) and Vysocina (southwest Moravia).
In Prague, the biggest polluters are the Central Wastewater Treatment Plant, the waste incinerator in Prague-Malesice, with emissions of dioxins and mercury, and the Cofely company in the Prague 4 district where halons leaked due to a defect.
According to Arnika, Spolana released 6.5 tonnes more of carcinogenic substances annually. Its share in the overall quantity of mutagenic substances, which can damage DNA, also went up.
Arnika uses the data firms report to the national Integrated Pollution Register.
The rankings for 2015 are Arnika’s 12th annual assessment of polluters. It offers data on a total of 1,770 companies, 70 more than the previous rankings.
As from yesterday, fresh data are available via a new interactive application Znecistovatele pod lupou.
Spolana spokesman Mikulas Duda said the company is the only in the Czech Republic to use trichloroethylene to the given extent within the production of caprolactam, being the latter’s only Czech producer.
That is why Spolana has appeared on Arnika’s list of polluters repeatedly.
“In the past year, we achieved a 5-percent reduction of emissions,” Duda said.
Arnika’s Jindrich Petrlik said, however, that Spolana raised its overall emissions of potentially carcinogenic substances in the past year.
Spolana’s share in the total emissions of mutagenic substances, which affect DNA, has increased as well, he said.
In addition, it has been newly proved that trichloroethylene, also emitted by Spolana, has a carcinogenic effect on humans, Petrlik said.
Duda said Spolana meets all limits set by law and invests in new technologies to curb the trichloroethylene emissions.
“Still before the planned termination of its amalgam electrolysis section, Spolana has been reducing its mercury emissions annually since 2011,” he added.
