Health impact assessment of solid waste treatment technologies, Italy, 2012

Background: An important concern of local governments has always been the disposal of solid waste. We tried to estimate the effect on exposed population health of the current situation (landfill) and also of alternative techniques and sites for the disposal of solid waste in an italian region. Methods: Trough a HIA “at desktop” we consider an hypothetical population of 100.000 inhabitants referred to Tuscany in terms of age-gender distribution and density. We take into account scientific information concerning the emission of pollutants (chemical, biological, physical) in different substrates (air, water, soil, food) by different techniques of waste disposal and their health effects. For the incinerator was considered a load of about 90,000 t / a. We apply the relative risks (RR) found in literature to the characteristics of the studied population. We divide the area in concentric rings of distance from the emitting source and than we compare the use of incinerators against landfill. Results: With regard to mechanical biological treatment information collected did not allow reliable comparisons. The results therefore relates to incinerators versus landfills. Cancer: At 1.5 km from the emissive source, regarding cases of all cancers, we obtain a protective effect, n°/y = -28,14; while for lung carcinoma we obtained an increase in the risk, n°/y = +6,54. At 5 km from the emissive source, regarding cases of all cancers, we obtain a protective effect, n°/y = -39,5; while for lung carcinoma we obtained an increase in the risk, n°/y = +2,18. Not Hodgkin Lymphoma: At 1 km from the emissive source we have a protective effect, n°/y = -8,5. Congenital Malformations: At 2 km from the emissive source, regarding cases of all congenital malformations, we obtain a protective effect, n°/y = -3,77; while for palate cleft we obtained an increase in the risk, n°/y = +29,5. Conclusions: The “zero risk” in terms of waste disposal does not exist. From our data, with few exceptions, emerges a protective role of incinerators against landfill. This effect appears greater for new generation incinerators. The optimal localization of a new incinerator should be hypothesized focusing on weather, traffic, infrastructure, residents exposition and water flows.