Lead, nitrates and nitrites. This is what the snow in the Capital contains, according to the researchers. This is all the more concerning as the quantities can seriously harm the health of the inhabitants, if the snow is ingested .

According to the specialists, the substances can influence people’s health several decades from now on. The most concerning alarm signal is yet the presence of DDT in the snow in Bucharest, a pesticide forbidden 20 years ago.

Some ecological organizations say that DDT reached the Capital once the roof of a warehouse stocking this substance was taken off. The warehouse is located on Transilvania motorway. The dangerous substance entered the water table and then the rivers. The water raised these substances in the air through evaporation and they were brought into the cities through precipitation.

Whoever throws snow in Dambovita river risks 3 years in jail

The situation is far from being simple as the cleaning companies had no idea about this danger, this is why in many situations the snow was amassed and  thrown in the gardens of the blocks of flats, in the parks, in the vicinity of the populated areas, hoping that it will melt faster....or it was thrown in Dambovita river. This happened unofficially, because officially the snow is deposited on  dedicated spaces, no one has heard of, of course.

“According to the legislation the snow on the public roads can only be deposited on the authorized spaces, that is in the waste dump. If the City Hall creates a suitable space, a special dump for snow then it will receive an environment authorization for that location, not otherwise. The illegal deposit of the snow on the ground is punished with a 60,000 RON fine. If somebody is caught throwing the snow into the water, in this case in Dâmboviţa river, they committ a criminal act, which is sentenced with 6 months to 3 years in jail”, stated for Libertatea, Silvian Ionescu, general commissioner of the Environment Guard.

All types of waste in Bucharest, including snow, can only be thrown in the authorized dumps, not on the field, on the land plots, in the rivers etc. Bucharest City Hall, the sector halls and the cleaning   firms infringed the Environment law and those who signed decision regarding the deposits of   toxic snow in Bucharest risk between 6 moths and 3 years in jail.

Bucharest Herald