Effects of Illegal Waste Disposal and Environmental Pollution on Human Health - Research Proposal Example

Effects of illegal waste disposal and environmental pollution on human health. A Case of Campania region in Italy. Name: Tutor: Course: Date: Introduction Dumping of waste in areas not designated or regulated anywhere in the world has negative effects on human health and environment. In most cases, proper waste disposal is not always convenient and affordable due to landfill laws and disposal fees. Consequently, illegal waste disposal impacts on air quality, ground and surface water as well as deterioration of land. Matiello et al. (2013) observed that waste disposal practices involve illegal buying of toxic waste dumps in undesignated areas such as construction yards, buildings, roads and cultivated areas. However, most of the wastes have harmful industrial chemicals and substances such as hydrocarbons, mercury, lead, arsenic, copper and polychlorinated biphenyls. In illegal waste sites, the residents engage in waste burning contributing further to environmental air pollution with possible effect of dioxins (Diletti et al., 2008). Negative human activities on the environment go full cycle to affect humans, majority of who are vulnerable to wastes. With short-term and long-term effects, waste dumping causes respiratory infection, asthma, kidney diseases, and chronic cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. Previous studies have focused on heterogeneous results on the potential effects on illegal waste dumping (Senior & Mazza, 2004; Carpenter et al., 2008, Dearwent et al., 2006). According to Senior and Mazza (2004) high levels of cancer mortality are linked to high pollution levels due to illegal dumping and inadequate waste control methods. Residents in the neighborhoods of toxic waste dumpsites are experiencing putative adverse health effects (Dearwent et al., 2006). Moreover, waste exposure is related to long-term health effects such as cancer and chronic respiratory diseases (Carpenter et al., 2008). In southern Italy and Campania region, there are major concerns of illegal burning of industrial residues, textiles, plastics and wheels in more than 2,000 toxic substances dumping sites. Steenland et al. (2004) found that during the night, more than 17 highly toxic molecules of tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxins were being illegally burned and dumped into agricultural areas in Campania. Although there are a number of incineration plants have been constructed in the region, waste dumping is still a menace. This study will focus on potential human health effects severity and occurrence of illegal waste disposal; hence contributing to address the concerns of the population and scientific community. Purpose of the study The aim of the study is to investigate the effects of illegal waste disposal and environmental pollution on health of residents of Campania in Italy. Objectives of the study 1. To find out level of contamination of milk from cattle and sheep consumed by humans in Campania region of Italy 2. To investigate the effect of burning wastes on air concentration of dioxins in Campania region of Italy 3. To establish the relationship between waste pollution and cancer mortality in Campania region of Italy Research hypotheses 1. Levels of milk contamination from wastes does not increase concentration of chemicals in humans 2. Burning of wastes has not effect on concentrations of dioxins 3. There is no relationship between waste pollution and cancer mortality Significance of the study Pollution is a major man-made disaster that poses a great risk to livelihoods not only to people in the vicinity of dumpsites but also food chain. As chemicals and toxic substance go up the food chain, it causes health complications in humans. Presence of dioxins in the air after burning of wastes is even a more disastrous activity. This study is important in highlighting the threat of continued illegal dumping of wastes on humans. The results will be critical to environmentalists, government departments of health, researchers in environmental and public health and also informs theory in environmental studies. Previous studies have been highlighting waste dumping effect on soil and ground water but least has been done to pollution effects on humans. By undertaking this study, the catastrophic effects of illegal waste dumping takes centre-stage. Literature review Illegal dumping of wastes affects the environment by contaminating groundwater, surface water and soil. Besides threatening aquatic and wildlife habitats, improper dumping of wastes exposes humans to hazardous toxic fluids and leakage of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). As animals such as sheep and cattle graze and forage on food from dumpsites, the ingest heavy metals such as Lead and Mercury which is passed down the food chain. In Europe, most waste companies are trying to avoid recycling charges and increasing landfills. Consequently, illegal dumpsites emerge in these areas as other wastes are transited illegally from Europe to Asia or Africa. Trinca et al (2001) in a geographical study of 104 infant residents in Caserta municipality found that waste disposal had caused infantile cancers, fetal distress and low birth weight in children. In 2009, Martuzzi and other researchers undertook a cluster analysis in a geographical study of 4.9 million residents in 196 municipalities of Naples and Caserta. Using Waste Index Category (WIC) the study found that the Excessive Relative Risk (ERR) on cancer (6.6 percent), liver (19.3 percent), stomach (5.2 percent), Urogenital malfunctions (82.7 percent) and nervous system (83.5 percent). Moreover, Benedetti et al (2013) conducted a geographical study of 35 residents of Naples province and found many soft tissue sarcomas in patients. The results showed Standardized Incident Ratios (SIR = 2.04) for Gatrointestinal stromal tumors. Large increases in dioxin concentration in people is a result of exposure to fires among people living in low risk areas compared to those living in low risk regions. As previously stated, waste related pollution has insignificant impact on human health especially with regard to milk/serum dioxin (Esposito et al., 2014). Despite these findings, there are possible long-terms role of wastes on lung cancer and liver mortality. Persistence of waste management and remediation of polluted sites is compatible with congenital malformation. In illegal waste dumps, exposure to fires leads to exposure to pollutants. Nonetheless, incineration has been seen has least posing risks and diseases such as Non-Hodgkin Lymphomas. In addition, Johnson (2013) observed that environmental contamination has health effects such as self-reported symptoms, birth weights and birth defects. This means that hazardous waste exposure or proximity affects birth weight of infants and congenital malformations. Although waste-related health effects still need to be investigated, it is emergent that contamination is closely related to high-standardized mortality rates. Melting down of usable metals after separation remains toxic even as people carry out the operations at home with uncontrolled release of toxic fumes. Rea (2005) agreed that soil samples taken from slums in Ghana had high concentrations of Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC), hydrogen cyanide, thallium, mercury and lead. Remedies to illegal dumping have been severe fines or penalties to the offenders which includes imprisonment or fines. For example, in the US state of South Carolina, offenders dumping wastes illegally are liable to pay $25,000 per for clean-up or serve jail sentences. On the other hand, community involvement and outreach have been developed to properly dispose illegally dumped materials. Research methodology This research will be based on historical data on environmental and medical literature as well as technical reports from international environmental agencies, food safety authorities in Campania region. Historical research is used by researchers to report conditions and events that occur in the past and will help in establishing facts to predict future events or make conclusions that concerns past events (McDowell, 2002). This type of research is beneficial in understanding the current issues, theories and practices based on previous experiences. However, the researcher cannot control or manipulate the variables or control past events since it relies on secondary source of data (McDowell, 2002). The reports will be obtained from Campania Region Environmental Protection Agency (ARPAC), National Institute for Statistics (ISTAT), and National Institute for Environmental Protection (ISPRA). The study will also carry out a systematic review of Embase and PubMed databases on medical literature published up to December 2014 in Italian and English Language. The inclusion criteria involve key phrases such as ‘human health in Campania’ and illegal dumping of toxic wastes’. The retrieval of articles will be done through online Scopus database searching for keywords such as human bio-monitoring, triangle of death, Naples, Campania, and toxic wastes. In addition, abstracts and titles of articles will be reviewed independently by two researchers to assess inclusion eligibility. The full text will be retrieved in case of uncertainties. Primary publications will be human bio-monitoring studies and waste-related health effects in Campania region. Other papers such as environmental sentinels, waste management and environmental estimates will be consulted. Data analysis The data as mentioned in the methodology will be historical and obtained from various databases in environmental health and medicine. The articles obtained will be analyzed based on the data analytical tools used such as descriptive and inferential measures to confirm research hypotheses provided earlier in the study. The articles will be discussed and results presented based on the individual findings to respond to the research objectives. References Benedetti, M.; Fazzo, L.; Buzzoni, C.; Comba, P.; Magnani, C.; Fusco, M. (2013). Incidence of soft tissue sarcomas in an Italian area affected by illegal waste dumping sites. Arch. Environ. Occupational Health, 11(2): 123-135. Carpenter, D.O.; Ma, J.; Lessner, L. (2008). Asthma and infectious respiratory disease in relation to residence near hazardous waste sites. Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. 11(4): 201–208. Dearwent S.M., Mumtaz M.M., Godfrey G., Sinks T., Falk H. (2006). Health effects of hazardous waste. Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. 10(7):439–448. Diletti, G.; Ceci, R.; Conte, A.; de Benedictis, A.; Migliorati, G.; Scortichini, G. (2008). Milk contamination from dioxins in Italy: Source identification and intervention strategies. In the Fate of Persistent Organic Pollution in the Environment; Springer: New York, NY, USA. Esposito, M.; Serpe, F.P.; Diletti, G.; Messina, G.; Scortichini, G.; la Rocca, C.; Baldi, L.; Amorena, M.; Monda, M. (2014). Serum levels of polychlorinated dibenzo-p- dioxins, polychlorinated dibenzofurans and polychlorinated biphenyls in a population living in the Naples area, southern Italy. Chemosphere. 94: 62–69. Johnson, B.L. (2013). Impact of hazardous waste on human health: Hazard, health effects, equity, and communication issues, CRC Press. Martuzzi, M.; Mitis, F.; Bianchi, F.; Minichilli, F.; Comba, P.; Fazzo, L. (2009). Cancer mortality and congenital anomalies in a region of Italy with intense environmental pressure due to waste. Occup. Environ. Med. 66: 725–732. Mattiello, A.; Chiodini, P.; Bianco, E.; Forgione, N.; Flammia, I.; Gallo, C.; Pizzuti, R.; Panico, S. (2013). Health effects associated with the disposal of solid waste in landfills and incinerators in populations living in surrounding areas: A systematic review. Int. J. Public Health, 58: 725–735. McDowell, W.H. (2002). Historical Research: A Guide. Longman: University of Michigan. Rea, K. (2005). Trash Nation. Parks and Recreation, 40 (9), 116-121. Senior, K.; Mazza, A. (2004). Italian “Triangle of death” linked to waste crisis. Lancet Oncol. 5: 525–527. Steenland K., Bertazzi P., Baccarelli A., Kogevinas M. (2004). Dioxin revisited: Developments since the 1997 IARC classification of dioxin as a human carcinogen. Environ. Health Perspect.;112:1265–1268. Trinca, S.; Comba, P.; Felli, A.; Forte, T.; Musmeci, L.; Piccardi, A. (2001). Childhood mortality in an area of southern Italy with numerous dumping grounds: Application of GIS and preliminary findings. In Proceeding of the First European Conference. Geographic Information Sciences in Public Health. Sheffield, UK, 19–20 September 2001; p. 19. Read More