Environmental Health Inequalities Among Municipalities Affected by Contaminated Sites in Italy

Pasetto, Roberto; Fonzo, Davide Di; Santis, Marco De; Porcu, Rosanna; Zona, Amerigo

doi:10.1089/env.2021.0068

Cited by 2 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…As for directing policy actions to reduce inequalities associated with contaminated sites, these action can be informed through evidence provided by national and local assessments, as suggested by the WHO ( 101 ). National monitoring systems, such as SENTIERI in Italy, allow the assessment of environmental health inequalities on a national scale, considering spatial variations and suggesting priorities for action ( 9 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In Italy this phenomenon has been documented by the national epidemiological surveillance system of communities residing near the main national contaminated sites of interest for remediation, named SENTIERI (National Epidemiological Study of Territories and Settlements Exposed to Pollution Risk), implemented by the Italian National Institute of Health (ISS) ( 7 , 8 ). SENTIERI has also highlighted a clear North-South gradient divide, with the worst conditions in the South Italy and big Islands (i.e., the Sicily and Sardinia Regions), where most of the affected communities also experience socioeconomic deprivation ( 8 , 9 ). This gradient goes hand in hand with similar gradients of disadvantage observed at the national level that have complex historical reasons preceding and/or concomitant with the Italian industrialization process ( 10 ), as documented, for example, in the reports of the Italian National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) on equitable and sustainable wellbeing ( 11 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Promotion of environmental public health and environmental justice in communities affected by large and long lasting industrial contamination: methods applied and lessons learned from the case study of Porto Torres (Italy)

Pasetto,

Zona,

Marsili

et al. 2024

Front. Public Health

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IntroductionCommunities affected by large scale and long lasting industrial contamination are often keen to understand whether their health has been impaired by such contamination. This requires answers that integrate environmental public health and environmental justice perspectives. At these sites, exposure scenarios from environmental contamination over time by multiple chemicals, often involving different environmental matrices, are complex and challenging to reconstruct.MethodsAn approach for describing the health of such communities in association with environmental contamination is presented, with the methods applied across the three domains of environmental contamination, population exposure and toxicology, environmental and social epidemiology, and environmental public health communication. The approach is described with examples from its application to the case study of Porto Torres, a town with a substantial industrially conditioned evolution.ResultsActivities in the field of environmental contamination, population exposure and toxicology focus on the collection and systematization of available contamination data, the identification of priority pollutants based on their toxicological profiles, the qualitative assessment of the likelihood of exposure for the population to priority pollutants and their known health effects. Environmental and social epidemiology methods are applied to describe the health profiles and socioeconomic conditions of the local population, taking into account multiple health outcomes from local information systems and considering specific diseases based on exposure and toxicological assessments. The environmental public health communication methods are directed to produce a communication plan and for its implementation through interaction with local institutional and social actors. The interpretation of health profiles benefits from a transdisciplinary analysis of the results.DiscussionThe proposed approach combines the needs of environmental public health and environmental justice allowing the integration of multidisciplinary knowledge to define recommendations for reducing and/or preventing hazardous environmental exposures and adverse health effects, stimulating the interactions between stakeholders, and making the study results more accessible to citizens.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Promotion of environmental public health and environmental justice in communities affected by large and long lasting industrial contamination: methods applied and lessons learned from the case study of Porto Torres (Italy)

Pasetto,

Zona,

Marsili

et al. 2024

Front. Public Health

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“…Different entities define CSs differently, following their perspective. For example, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has its own public health-oriented definition 1 and the European Environment Information and Observation Network (EIONET) has a definition that considers mainly soil contamination and the perspective of its remediation 2 . In a broader sense, and in the context of this article, CSs range from localized instances of single chemical contamination within a specific environmental component to extensive regions affected by the simultaneous contamination of soil, water, air, and the food chain due to the cumulative impact of multiple chemicals emitted by anthropogenic activities.…”

Section: Background and Summarymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…CSs pose hazards to sustainable life on our planet through adversely impacting human health 3 , 4 and the environment 5 , 6 and therefore infringing on human rights by provoking environmental health injustice 2 , 7 . The exposure to CS can be direct via ingestion, inhalation, skin contact, and dermal absorption 8 .…”

Section: Background and Summarymentioning

confidence: 99%

A comprehensive dataset of environmentally contaminated sites in the state of São Paulo in Brazil

Samlani,

Pino,

Bertolo

et al. 2024

Sci Data

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In the Brazilian state of São Paulo, contaminated sites (CSs) constitute threats to health, environment and socioeconomic situation of populations. Over the past two decades, the Environmental Agency of São Paulo (CETESB) has monitored these known CSs. This paper discusses the produced dataset through digitising the CETESB reports and making them accessible to the public in English. The dataset reports on qualitative aspects of contamination within the registered sites (e.g., contamination type and spread) and their management status. The data was extracted from CETESB reports using a machine-learning computer vision algorithm. It comprises two components: an optical character recognition (OCR) engine for text extraction and a convolutional neural network (CNN) image classifier to identify checked boxes. The digitisation was followed by harmonisation and quality assurance processes to ensure the consistency and validity of the data. Making this dataset accessible will allow future work on predictive analysis and decision-making and will inform the required policy-making to improve the management of the CSs in Brazil.

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Environmental Health Inequalities Among Municipalities Affected by Contaminated Sites in Italy

Cited by 2 publications

References 1 publication

Promotion of environmental public health and environmental justice in communities affected by large and long lasting industrial contamination: methods applied and lessons learned from the case study of Porto Torres (Italy)

Promotion of environmental public health and environmental justice in communities affected by large and long lasting industrial contamination: methods applied and lessons learned from the case study of Porto Torres (Italy)

A comprehensive dataset of environmentally contaminated sites in the state of São Paulo in Brazil

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