Health effects associated with the disposal of solid waste in landfills and incinerators in populations living in surrounding areas: a systematic review

Mattiello, Amalia; Chiodini, Paolo; Bianco, Elvira; Forgione, Nunzia; Flammia, Incoronata; Gallo, Ciro; Pizzuti, Renato; Panico, Salvatore

doi:10.1007/s00038-013-0496-8

Cited by 94 publications

(78 citation statements)

References 67 publications

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“… 26 Occurrence of respiratory symptoms was documented among residents living close to waste sites 12 and was linked to inhalation exposure to endotoxin, microorganisms, and aerosols from waste collection and land filling. 27 …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Morbidity and mortality of people who live close to municipal waste landfills: a multisite cohort study

Mataloni¹,

Badaloní²,

Golini³

et al. 2016

Int. J. Epidemiol.

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Background: The evidence on the health effects related to residing close to landfills is controversial. Nine landfills for municipal waste have been operating in the Lazio region (Central Italy) for several decades. We evaluated the potential health effects associated with contamination from landfills using the estimated concentration of hydrogen sulphide (H 2 S) as exposure. Methods : A cohort of residents within 5 km of landfills was enrolled (subjects resident on 1 January 1996 and those who subsequently moved into the areas until 2008) and followed for mortality and hospitalizations until 31 December 2012. Assessment of exposure to the landfill (H 2 S as a tracer) was performed for each subject at enrolment, using a Lagrangian dispersion model. Information on several confounders was available (gender, age, socioeconomic position, outdoor PM 10 concentration, and distance from busy roads and industries). Cox regression analysis was performed [Hazard Ratios (HRs), 95% confidence intervals (CIs)]. Results: The cohort included 242 409 individuals. H 2 S exposure was associated with mortality from lung cancer and respiratory diseases (e.g. HR for increment of 1 ng/m 3 H 2 S: 1.10, 95% CI 1.02–1.19; HR 1.09, 95% CI 1.00–1.19, respectively). There were also associations between H 2 S and hospitalization for respiratory diseases (HR = 1.02, 95% CI 1.00–1.03), especially acute respiratory infections among children (0–14 years) (HR = 1.06, 95% CI 1.02–1.11). Conclusions: Exposure to H 2 S, a tracer of airborne contamination from landfills, was associated with lung cancer mortality as well as with mortality and morbidity for respiratory diseases. The link with respiratory disease is plausible and coherent with previous studies, whereas the association with lung cancer deserves confirmation.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Morbidity and mortality of people who live close to municipal waste landfills: a multisite cohort study

Mataloni¹,

Badaloní²,

Golini³

et al. 2016

Int. J. Epidemiol.

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“…In this regard, the lack of accurate information on exposure levels represents undoubtedly the major issue in the evaluation of waste management-related health impacts [10]. More in general, previous studies outlined that the exposure assessment often represented the main uncertainty in epidemiological studies, mainly due to inadequate methods, which introduced misclassification of exposure with a consequent decrease in the likelihood of detecting significant exposure-effect associations [1,12,13]. Future studies in this field should require improvement in the characterization of individual exposures; in this regard, one of the most promising progresses in the exposure science is the development of miniaturized instruments for participatory and ubiquitous monitoring strategies for airborne pollutants [16].…”

Section: Exposure Assessment In Studies On Health Impact Of Waste Manmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Similarly, Barba et al concluded that the available evidence suffers from limitations mainly due to study design, lack of consideration of confounders and quality of the exposure data [11]. Thus, although many studies and reviews are available, the lack of adequate and accurate data on exposure levels represents one of the major issue in the evaluation of health effects arising from exposure to waste management processes [10,12,13].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exposure Assessment Methods in Studies on Waste Management and Health Effects: An Overview

Spinazzè¹,

Borghi²,

Rovelli³

et al. 2017

Environments

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Concerns and uncertainties persist about potential environmental and health effects associated with exposure to emissions from widely adopted waste management facilities: despite a limited amount of evidence having been found for some exposure-effect associations, most of the available studies were characterized by limitations related to poor exposure assessment, which could introduce biases and weaknesses in the interpretation of results. This communication provides a brief overview of the exposure assessment methods used in studies on waste management and health effects: problems, key issues, priorities and challenges are briefly presented and discussed. The main conclusions refer to the need of newly developed and harmonized exposure assessment strategies and techniques, which represent an essential step in the study of waste-disposal facilities' health impacts.

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“…These sites provide a ready source of nutrition and shelter for human-introduced species that support the spread of pathogen vectors and non-native/invasive species (Rusterholz et al, 2012), while discarded pollutants can disperse across the landscape (Diletti et al, 2008;Mattiello et al, 2013). As a consequence, illegal waste sites pose serious economic and social challenges through an increased burden upon the public health system (Ashworth et Many publications refer to the influence of specific chemicals or chemical mixtures in illegal landfills on human health (Baibergenova et al, 2003;Kramer, 1987;Sorsa et al, 1992;Sullivan, 1993) but there are almost no data about their influence on biotic homogenisation and the spread of pathogens throughout the rodents living area.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Changes in Rodent Communities as Consequence of Urbanization and Inappropriate Waste Management

Bužan¹

2017

Appl Ecol Env Res

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Abstract.One of the unpleasant byproducts of urban living is municipal solid waste. Unfortunately, many urban areas cannot effectively manage their waste, which causes creation of illegal waste sites. We investigated communities of small mammals from 14 illegal waste sites in Mediterranean Slovenia and Croatia. Five species of the family Muridae were recorded: black rat (Rattus rattus), domestic mouse (Mus musculus), wood mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus), striped field mouse (Apodemus agrarius), and yellow-necked mouse (Apodemus flavicollis). Black rats and house mice, the two commensal species, were exclusively found or prevalent in larger waste sites, while the other three Apodemus species were most frequent in natural or seminatural habitats (> 90% specimens). At large waste sites and in the human settlements, commensal species evidently outnumber the three native Apodemus species (<25% of specimens). Our results show that improper waste management drives the native rodents to local extinction and replacing them with invasive commensal species, thereby reducing biodiversity and ecosystem health. We conclude that higher rates of parasitism and infestation with different pathogens in waste sites, especially those in the close proximity of human settlements can raise the possibility of transferring the pathogens and parasites either to the people or their predators.

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Health effects associated with the disposal of solid waste in landfills and incinerators in populations living in surrounding areas: a systematic review

Abstract: A moderate level of confidence is possible in limited areas of knowledge, implying the need to overcome the limitations of current studies about exposure assessment and to control confounders at the individual level.

Cited by 94 publications

References 67 publications

Morbidity and mortality of people who live close to municipal waste landfills: a multisite cohort study

Morbidity and mortality of people who live close to municipal waste landfills: a multisite cohort study

Exposure Assessment Methods in Studies on Waste Management and Health Effects: An Overview

Changes in Rodent Communities as Consequence of Urbanization and Inappropriate Waste Management

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