Environmental pollution from illegal waste disposal and health effects: a review on the "triangle of death"

Ecotoxicological impacts of landfill sites: Towards risk assessment, mitigation policies and the role of artificial intelligence

Waste disposal in landfills remains a global concern. Despite technological developments, landfill leachate poses a hazard to ecosystems and human health since it acts as a secondary reservoir for legacy and emerging pollutants. This study provides a systematic and scientometric review of the nature and toxicity of pollutants generated by landfills and means of assessing their potential risks. Regarding human health, unregulated waste disposal and pathogens in leachate are the leading causes of diseases reported in local populations. Both in vitro and in vivo approaches have been employed in the ecotoxicological risk assessment of landfill leachate, with model organisms ranging from bacteria to birds. These studies demonstrate a wide range of toxic effects that reflect the complex composition of leachate and geographical variations in climate, resource availability and management practices. Based on bioassay (and other) evidence, categories of persistent chemicals of most concern include brominated flame retardants, per- and polyfluorinated chemicals, pharmaceuticals and alkyl phenol ethoxylates. However, the emerging and more general literature on microplastic toxicity suggests that these particles might also be problematic in leachate. Various mitigation strategies have been identified, with most focussing on improving landfill design or leachate treatment, developing alternative disposal methods and reducing waste volume through recycling or using more sustainable materials. The success of these efforts will rely on policies and practices and their enforcement, which is seen as a particular challenge in developing nations and at the international (and transboundary) level. Artificial intelligence and machine learning afford a wide range of options for evaluating and reducing the risks associated with leachates and gaseous emissions from landfills, and various approaches tested or having potential are discussed. However, addressing the limitations in data collection, model accuracy, real-time monitoring and our understanding of environmental impacts will be critical for realising this potential.

Exposure to environmental pollutants selects for xenobiotic-degrading functions in the human gut microbiome

Environmental pollutants from different chemical families may reach the gut microbiome, where they can be metabolized and transformed. However, how our gut symbionts respond to the exposure to environmental pollution is still underexplored. In this observational, cohort study, we aim to investigate the influence of environmental pollution on the gut microbiome composition and potential activity by shotgun metagenomics. We select as a case study a population living in a highly polluted area in Campania region (Southern Italy), proposed as an ideal field for exposomic studies and we compare the fecal microbiome of 359 subjects living in areas with high, medium and low environmental pollution. We highlight changes in gut microbiome composition and functionality that were driven by pollution exposure. Subjects from highly polluted areas show higher blood concentrations of dioxin and heavy metals, as well as an increase in microbial genes related to degradation and/or resistance to these molecules. Here we demonstrate the dramatic effect that environmental xenobiotics have on gut microbial communities, shaping their composition and boosting the selection of strains with degrading capacity. The gut microbiome can be considered as a pivotal player in the environment-health interaction that may contribute to detoxifying toxic compounds and should be taken into account when developing risk assessment models. The study was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov with the identifier NCT05976126.

Differences in physical and mental health symptoms among residents living near municipal solid waste sites: a cross sectional study in the Ashanti Region, Ghana

OBJECTIVE

Physical and mental health concerns and symptoms, including sleep problems, low mood, extreme tiredness, and appetite loss are prevalent among people living near waste sites. This research examines differences in health symptoms among residents living near municipal solid waste sites in the Ashanti Region, Ghana.

METHODS

The study used cross-sectional data from 827 residents living near three municipal waste sites, including Besease, Asokore, and Dompoase sites in the Ashanti Region, Ghana. Descriptive statistics, Pearson's chi-square, and binary logistic regressions were performed to examine the differences and associations between the variables.

RESULTS

Health symptoms, including sleep problems/insomnia, frequent extreme tiredness, low mood, loss of appetite, stress, anxiety, and depression, were reported by the majority of the participants. Residents near open dumpsites (Besease and Asokore) exhibit significantly higher likelihoods of experiencing various health symptoms such as extreme fatigue, depression, psychological disorders, thinking and concentration problems, low mood, loss of appetite, and anxiety compared to those near the engineered Oti landfill in Dompoase.

CONCLUSION

While emphasizing the importance of proper landfill design and management in Ghana, this study underscores the need for further longitudinal and clinical investigations. Clinically establishing the link between dumpsites and health symptoms is imperative for informed public health interventions and policy decisions aimed at mitigating the potential adverse health effects of landfills on residents' well-being.

Solid waste management in the context of the waste hierarchy and circular economy frameworks: An international critical review

Growing populations and consumption drive the challenges of solid waste management (SWM); globalization of transport, food production, and trade, including waste trading, distributes risks worldwide. Using waste hierarchy (WH; reduce, reuse, and recycle) and circular economy (CE) concepts, we updated a conceptual waste framework used by international organizations to evaluate SWM practices. We identified the key steps and the important factors, as well as stakeholders, which are essential features for effective SWM. Within this updated conceptual framework, we qualitatively evaluated global SWM strategies and practices, identifying opportunities, barriers, and best practices. We find that, although a few exceptional countries exhibit zero-waste compliance, most fare poorly, as exhibited by the high waste generation, incineration, and disposal (open dumping, landfilling) volumes. In the Global North, SWM strategies and practices rely heavily on technologies, economic tools, regulatory frameworks, education, and social engagement to raise stakeholder awareness and enhance inclusion and participation; in the Global South, however, many governments take sole legal responsibility for SWM, seeking to eliminate waste as a public "nuisance." Separation and recycling in the Global South are implemented mainly by "informal" economies in which subsistence needs drive recyclable material retrieval. Imported, regionally inappropriate tools, economic constraints, weak policies and governance, waste trading, noninclusive stakeholder participation, data limitations, and limited public awareness continue to pose major waste and environmental management challenges across nations. In the context of the framework, we conclude that best practices from around the world can be used to guide decision-making, globally. Despite variations in drivers and needs across regions, nations in both the Global North and South need to improve WH and CE compliance, and enhance stakeholder partnership, awareness, and participation throughout the SWM process. Partnerships between the Global North and South could better manage traded wastes, reduce adverse impacts, and enhance global environmental sustainability and equity, supporting UN Sustainable Development Goals. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2024;20:9-35. © 2023 The Authors. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Society of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry (SETAC).

Illegal Solid-Waste Dumping in a Low-Income Neighbourhood in South Africa: Prevalence and Perceptions

Illegal solid-waste dumping (ISWD) is prevalent globally with adverse social and environmental impacts, particularly in poor communities. Understanding the extent, practices and perceptions of ISWD is needed to inform interventions. Using GIS techniques and household surveys, this study examined the prevalence of dumpsites, and perceptions of ISWD in a low-income neighbourhood of Komani, South Africa. A total of 120 dumpsites were encountered in green spaces, empty residential plots and street edges, suggesting illegal dumping of solid waste is widespread. More than half of the respondents (58%) disposed of household waste in undesignated sites or burnt it, attributing this to the non-collection of waste. Potential interventions suggested were largely technical, including regular collection of waste, and the provision of bins and plastic bags. The paper suggests approaches to addressing sustainable solid-waste management should consider the views of local communities, who are principal stakeholders in the solid-waste production and management mix.

Biological and chemical contamination of illegal, uncontrolled refuse storage areas in Poland

This study focused on assessing the microbiological and chemical contamination of air, soil and leachate in uncontrolled refuse storage areas in central Poland. The research included an analysis of the number of microorganisms (culture method), endotoxin concentration (gas chromatography-mass spectrometry), heavy metals level (atomic absorption spectrometry), elemental characteristics (elemental analyser), cytotoxicity assessment against A-549 (human lung) and Caco-2 (human colon adenocarcinoma) cell lines (PrestoBlue™ test) and toxic compound identification (ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight ultrahigh-resolution mass spectrometry). Microbial contamination differed depending on the dump and the group of tested microorganisms. The number of bacteria was: 4.3 × 10² - 1.8 × 10³ CFU m^-3 (air); 1.1 × 10³ - 1.2 × 10⁶ CFU mL^-1 (leachate); 1.0 × 10⁶ - 3.9 × 10⁶ CFU g^-1 (soil). Respectively, for air and soil the number of fungi was: 2.2 × 10² - 4.6 × 10² CFU m^-3; 1.8 × 10² - 3.9 × 10³ CFU g^-1. Metal levels (Fe, Mn, Pb, Zn, Al, Hg, Cd, Cu, Cr) were higher than in the control sample; however, the average concentrations did not exceed the permissible standards. The cytotoxicity of soil and leachate samples depended on the dump, sample and cell line tested. The leachates were more cytotoxic than soil extracts. Compounds belonging to pesticides, surfactants and biocides, chemicals and/or polymer degradation products, medicinal drugs and insect repellents were found. The detection of potential pathogens in the air, soil and leachate, the presence of toxic compounds and the confirmation of the cytotoxic effect of leachate and soil on human cell lines justify the need for further research on the risks posed by illegal dumps. These studies should aim at developing a unified assessment method and a method to minimise the risk of contaminants spreading in the environment, including harmful biological agents.

Artificial intelligence for waste management in smart cities: a review

The rising amount of waste generated worldwide is inducing issues of pollution, waste management, and recycling, calling for new strategies to improve the waste ecosystem, such as the use of artificial intelligence. Here, we review the application of artificial intelligence in waste-to-energy, smart bins, waste-sorting robots, waste generation models, waste monitoring and tracking, plastic pyrolysis, distinguishing fossil and modern materials, logistics, disposal, illegal dumping, resource recovery, smart cities, process efficiency, cost savings, and improving public health. Using artificial intelligence in waste logistics can reduce transportation distance by up to 36.8%, cost savings by up to 13.35%, and time savings by up to 28.22%. Artificial intelligence allows for identifying and sorting waste with an accuracy ranging from 72.8 to 99.95%. Artificial intelligence combined with chemical analysis improves waste pyrolysis, carbon emission estimation, and energy conversion. We also explain how efficiency can be increased and costs can be reduced by artificial intelligence in waste management systems for smart cities.

A review on sulfur transformation during anaerobic digestion of organic solid waste: Mechanisms, influencing factors and resource recovery

Anaerobic digestion (AD) is an economical and environment-friendly technology for treating organic solid wastes (OSWs). OSWs with high sulfur can lead to the accumulation of toxic and harmful hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) during AD, so a considerable amount of studies have focused on removing H₂S emissions. However, current studies have found that sulfide induces phosphate release from the sludge containing iron‑phosphorus compounds (FePs) and the feasibility of recovering elemental sulfur (S⁰) during AD. To tap the full potential of sulfur in OSWs resource recovery, deciphering the sulfur transformation pathway and its influencing factors is required. Therefore, in this review, the sulfur species and distributions in OSWs and the pathway of sulfur transformation during AD were systematically summarized. Then, the relationship between iron (ferric compounds and zero-valent iron), phosphorus (FePs) and sulfur were analyzed. It was found that the reaction of iron with sulfide during AD drove the conversion of sulfide to S⁰ and iron sulfide compounds (FeS_x), and consequently iron was applied in sulfide abatement. In particular, ferric (hydr)oxide granules offer possibilities to improve the economic viability of hydrogen sulfide control by recovering S⁰. Sulfide is an interesting strategy to release phosphate from the sludge containing FePs for phosphorus recovery. Critical factors affecting sulfur transformation, including the carbon source, free ammonia and pretreatment methods, were summarized and discussed. Carbon source and free ammonia affected sulfur-related microbial diversity and enzyme activity and different sulfur transformation pathways in response to varying pretreatment methods. The study on S⁰ recovery, organic sulfur conversion, and phosphate release mechanism triggered by sulfur deserves further investigation. This review is expected to enrich our knowledge of the role of sulfur during AD and inspire new ideas for recovering phosphorus and sulfur resources from OSWs.

Occupational Risk Assessment in Landfills: Research Outcomes from Italy

Industrial production has brought increased wellbeing in the last years, but the amount of solid waste has undoubtedly increased. Thus, open dumpsites and landfills have been created throughout the world, with serious impacts on the environment and public health. In such a context, occupational health and safety (OHS) issues related to workers that have to deal with landfill characterization or management have not been considered sufficiently. To reduce such a research gap, in 2019 a research project started in Italy on OHS risk assessment in landfills. In fact, in such facilities, workers can be subjected to direct contact with the polluted environment and might not be completely aware of the entity and type of pollution (e.g., in open dumpsites). Starting with the analysis of INAIL data on accidents at work which occurred in Italy during the period 2008–2019, a specific risk analysis was carried out with the goal of defining risk determinants and profiles by means of K-means cluster analysis. Such an analysis allowed us to recognize the use of work equipment and the work environment as the main determinants of the accidents on the one hand, and the “driver of the excavator” as the most risky activity on the other. The achieved results take a step forward towards the characterization of occupational health and safety issues in landfills. Accordingly, the research outcomes represent a basis on which to address further research work in this field.

Development of Machine Learning Model for Prediction of Demolition Waste Generation Rate of Buildings in Redevelopment Areas

Owing to a rapid increase in waste, waste management has become essential, for which waste generation (WG) information has been effectively utilized. Various studies have recently focused on the development of reliable predictive models by applying artificial intelligence to the construction and prediction of WG information. In this study, research was conducted on the development of machine learning (ML) models for predicting the demolition waste generation rate (DWGR) of buildings in redevelopment areas in South Korea. Various ML algorithms (i.e., artificial neural network (ANN), K-nearest neighbors (KNN), linear regression (LR), random forest (RF), and support vector machine (SVM)) were applied to the development of an optimal predictive model, and the main hyper parameters (HPs) for each algorithm were optimized. The results suggest that ANN-ReLu (coefficient of determination (R²) 0.900, the ratio of percent deviation (RPD) 3.16), SVM-polynomial (R² 0.889, RPD 3.00), and ANN-logistic (R² 0.883, RPD 2.92) are the best ML models for predicting the DWGR. They showed average errors of 7.3%, 7.4%, and 7.5%, respectively, compared to the average observed values, confirming the accurate predictive performance, and in the uncertainty analysis, the d-factor of the models appeared less than 1, showing that the presented models are reliable. Through a comparison with ML algorithms and HPs applied in previous related studies, the results herein also showed that the selection of various ML algorithms and HPs is important in developing optimal ML models for WG management.

The 'land of fires': epidemiological research and public health policy during the waste crisis in Campania, Italy

The region of Campania, South Italy rose to prominence in the mid-2000s due to the illegal disposal of waste by the Camorra during the local waste management crisis. Several lines of evidence have identified a link between exposure to toxic waste and adverse health outcomes in the local populations. Critically, studies since 2017 have strongly suggested that this link is causal in nature. The uncertainty of evidence polarised the Italian epidemiological community and partly undermined the precautionary principle in public health policy, leading to years of delay in the deployment of appropriate interventions. The crisis also sparked concerns about pollution of soil, water, and agricultural products. The contrast between political responses and protests from local communities shows analogies with environmental emergencies of a larger scale. Beyond law enforcement actions to prosecute illegal waste disposal activity, future mitigation of risks for affected populations will require coordinated efforts in environmental policy (land reclamation, improved waste management) and public health (i.e. extensive epidemiological surveillance, screening and prevention programs). By summarising evidence over the last two decades, this review aims to construct a cohesive interdisciplinary narrative of the events in the Campanian waste crisis.

Citizens' perception towards landfill exposure and its associated health effects: a PLS-SEM based modeling approach

Around 90% of municipal solid waste in India is treated improperly at open dumps and landfills, posing a severe threat to public health. Landfills are an annoyance whose presence causes uncertainty, stress, and dissatisfaction in neighboring residential areas. This research investigates the perceived impact of exposure to landfills on health in terms of environmental quality, general living status, and defensiveness. To meet the current study's objective, "Case of exposed population" to landfill, i.e., 384 participants dwelling near 1 km of the dump site in Siliguri municipality, West Bengal, India, were considered using a purposive sample approach. The present study adopted Partial Least Square-Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) approach to prove the hypothesis related to the residential perception of landfills and their impact on health. The findings reveal that all three constructs, namely environmental quality (β = .997, t = 19.607, and ρ < 0.001), general life status (β = .116, t = 2.475 and ρ < 0.05), and people's defensive attitude (β = .150, t = 2.526 and ρ < 0.001), significantly affect the health condition of those exposed to a landfill site. The results suggest that by understanding the impact of landfills on resident health, policymakers and bureaucrats can promote reliable and effective measures linked to sustainable solid waste disposal facilities. The administration must create a policy to protect citizens who live near landfills by improving the ambient environment, establishing health management facilities, and raising awareness through public participation.

Artificial intelligence applications for sustainable solid waste management practices in Australia: A systematic review

Solid waste generation and its impact on human health and the environment have long been a matter of concern for governments across the world. In recent years, there has been increasing emphasis on resource recovery (reusing, recycling and extracting energy from waste) using more advanced approaches such as artificial intelligence (AI) in Australia. AI is a powerful technology that is increasingly gaining popularity and application in various fields. The adoption of AI techniques offers alternative innovative approaches to solid waste management (SWM). Although there are previous studies on AI technologies and SWM, no study has assessed the adoption of AI applications in solving the diverse SWM problems for achieving sustainable waste management in Australia. Moreover, there are inconsistencies and a lack of awareness on how AI technologies function in relation to their application to SWM. This study examines the application of AI technologies in various areas of SWM (generation, sorting, collection, vehicle routing, treatment, disposal and waste management planning) to enhance sustainable waste management practices in Australia. To achieve the aims of this study, prior studies from 2005 to 2021 from various databases are collected and analyzed. The study focuses on the adoption of AI applications on SWM, compares the performance of AI applications, explores the benefits and challenges, and provides best practice recommendations on how resource efficiency can be optimized to improve economic, environmental and social outcomes. This study found that AI-based models have better prediction abilities when compared to other models used in forecasting solid waste generation and recycling. Findings show that waste generation in Australia has been steadily increasing and requires upgraded and improved recovery infrastructure and the appropriate adoption of AI technologies to enhance sustainable SWM. Australia's adoption of AI recycling technologies would benefit from a national approach that seeks consistency across jurisdictions, while catering for regional differences. This study will benefit researchers, governments, policy-makers, municipalities and other waste management organizations to increase current recycling rates, eliminate the need for manual labor, reduce costs, maximize efficiency, and transform the way we approach the management of solid waste.

An overview of the environmental pollution and health effects associated with waste landfilling and open dumping

Landfilling is one of the most common waste management methods employed in all countries alike, irrespective of their developmental status. The most commonly used types of landfills are (a) municipal solid waste landfill, (b) industrial waste landfill, and (c) hazardous waste landfill. There is, also, an emerging landfill type called "green waste landfill" that is, occasionally, being used. Most landfills, including those discussed in this review article, are controlled and engineered establishments, wherein the waste ought to abide with certain regulations regarding their quality and quantity. However, illegal and uncontrolled "landfills" (mostly known as open dumpsites) are, unfortunately, prevalent in many developing countries. Due to the widespread use of landfilling, even as of today, it is imperative to examine any environmental- and/or health-related issues that have emerged. The present study seeks to determine the environmental pollution and health effects associated with waste landfilling by adopting a desk review design. It is revealed that landfilling is associated with various environmental pollution problems, namely, (a) underground water pollution due to the leaching of organic, inorganic, and various other substances of concern (SoC) contained in the waste, (b) air pollution due to suspension of particles, (c) odor pollution from the deposition of municipal solid waste (MSW), and (d) even marine pollution from any potential run-offs. Furthermore, health impacts may occur through the pollution of the underground water and the emissions of gases, leading to carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic effects of the exposed population living in their vicinity.

Comparison Process of Blood Heavy Metals Absorption Linked to Measured Air Quality Data in Areas with High and Low Environmental Impact

Air pollution is a problem shared by the entire world population, and researchers have highlighted its adverse effects on human health in recent years. The object of this paper was the relationship between the pollutants’ concentrations measured in the air and the quantity of pollutant itself inhaled by the human body. The area chosen for the study has a high environmental impact given the significant presence on the territory of polluting activities. The Acerra area (HI) has a waste-to-energy plant and numerous industries to which polluting emissions are attributed. This area has always been the subject of study as the numbers of cancer patients are high. A survey on male patients to evaluate the heavy metals concentrations in the blood was conducted in the two areas and then linked to its values aero-dispersed. Using the air quality data measured by the monitoring networks in two zones, one with high environmental impact (HI) and one with low environmental impact (LI), the chronicle daily intake (CDI) of pollutants inhaled by a single person was calculated. The pollutants considered in this study are PM10 and four heavy metals (As, Cd, Ni, Pb) constituting the typical particulates of the areas concerned. The CDI values calculated for the two zones are significantly higher in the HI zone following the seasonal pollution trend.

A novel human biomonitoring study by semiconductor gas sensors in Exposomics: investigation of health risk in contaminated sites

Two areas in central-southern Italy Land of Fires in Campania and Valley of Sacco river in Lazio are known to be contaminated sites, the first due to illegal fly-tipping and toxic fires, and the second due to an intensive industrial exploitation done by no-scruple companies and crooked public administration offices with dramatic consequences for environment and resident people. The work is intended to contribute to Human BioMonitoring (HBM) studies conducted in these areas on healthy young male population by a semiconductor gas sensor array trained by SPME-GC/MS. Human semen, blood and urine were investigated. The fingerprinting of the Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) by a gas sensors system allowed to discriminate the different contamination of the two areas and was able to predict the chemical concentration of several VOCs identified by GC/MS.

The Influence of Message Framing on Residents' Waste Separation Willingness-The Mediating Role of Moral Identity

With serious environmental problems increasing, waste separation has drawn much attention. Message framing is an important way to popularize separation knowledge and increase people’s separation willingness. Message framing was classified into positive and negative frames in this study, and then based on moral identity theory from the social cognitive perspective, two dimensions of moral identity were introduced as mediating variables to construct a mechanism model of the influence of message framing on waste separation willingness. After a comparative study of three groups of subjects (N = 604), the following conclusions were drawn: (1) message framing positively influenced moral identity and waste separation willingness; (2) both positive and negative message framing positively influenced waste separation willingness through the partial mediating role of moral identity symbolization and internalization; and (3) the mediating role of symbolization was stronger in the effect of positive message framing on waste separation willingness, while the mediating role of internalization was stronger in the effect of negative message framing on waste separation willingness. The findings provide significant information for organizations to effectively carry out message strategies.

Development and application of an analytical framework for mapping probable illegal dumping sites using nighttime light imagery and various remote sensing indices

Illegal dump sites (IDS) pose significant risks to human and the environment and are a pressing issue worldwide. Due to their secretive nature, the detection of IDS is costly and ineffective. In this study, an analytical framework was developed to detect probable IDSs in rural and remote areas using nighttime light (NTL) as a proxy for populated areas. An IDS probability map is produced by aggregation of Landsat-8 and Suomi NPP satellite imagery, multiple-criteria decision-making analysis, and classification tools. Six variables are considered, including modified soil adjusted index, land surface temperature, NTL, highway length, railway length, and the number of landfills. Vulnerability of the inhabitants on reserve lands was assessed using three sample regions. The method appears effective in reducing potential IDSs. Only about 7% of the 31,285 km² study area are identified as probable IDS, being classified as "very high" and "high". Landfills without permit are found more effective in lowering IDS occurrence. Spatial distributions of reserve lands and the maturity of highways network nearby may be more important than the length of railways when assessing the inhabitant vulnerability due to IDS. Highway length is the most decisive factor on IDS probability among all classes, with membership grades ranging from 0.99 to 0.55. Land surface temperature appears less effective for the identification of smaller scale IDS. NTL is more prominent on IDS probability in the "very high" class, with a membership grade of 0.80. The finding suggests that populated areas represented by NTL is a priori of IDS.

Waste recycling policies and Covid-19 pandemic in an E-DSGE model

Among the environmental problems of the 21st century, waste production and management are particularly pressing. Despite policy efforts, waste volumes are still increasing worldwide and landfilling remains the main disposal option in several parts of the world. Together with the huge environmental impacts of the large amounts of waste landfilled, it would be possible to save enormous amounts of resources improving reuse and recycle options. The impact of the COVID-19 outbreak has been significant also in the waste cycle, leading to an increase in the amount of non-recyclable consumption in response to sanitary needs, as well as to new consumption practices. On the basis of these considerations this paper aims at analysing: (i) the short run impact on output, consumption and health of appropriate waste policies aimed at reducing non-recyclable waste production, and (ii) to highlight the mechanics triggered by an exogenous pandemic event in terms of waste management, environmental and health impacts. To these ends, we adopt an E-DSGE approach. Our results confirm the relevance of policies and consumers' preferences in driving waste management towards a circular economy transition. More importantly, our (to our knowledge) novel analysis suggests the existence of a trade-off between environmental quality and health in the presence of a pandemic event, suggesting the need to increase preparedness to such events, in order to avoid relying on "emergency approaches", based on resorting to increases in non-recyclable consumption types (e.g. single use plastics).

Soil Remediation: Towards a Resilient and Adaptive Approach to Deal with the Ever-Changing Environmental Challenges

Pollution from numerous contaminants due to many anthropogenic activities affects soils quality. Industrialized countries have many contaminated sites; their remediation is a priority in environmental legislation. The aim of this overview is to consider the evolution of soil remediation from consolidated invasive technologies to environmentally friendly green strategies. The selection of technology is no longer exclusively based on eliminating the source of pollution but aims at remediation, which includes the recovery of soil quality. “Green remediation” appears to be the key to addressing the issue of remediation of contaminated sites as it focuses on environmental quality, including the preservation of the environment. Further developments in green remediation reflect the aim of promoting clean-up strategies that also address the effects of climate change. Sustainable and resilient remediation faces the environmental challenge of achieving targets while reducing the environmental damage caused by clean-up interventions and must involve an awareness that social systems and environmental systems are closely connected.

A comprehensive review of domestic-open waste burning: recent trends, methodology comparison, and factors assessment

Open burning is a waste management practice performed by many people worldwide, especially in developing countries. Lack of detailed data of open burning practices may lead to a misinterpretation during data analysis, especially when estimating global/local emissions and assessing risks. This study presents a comprehensive review of current research trends, methodological assessments, and factors behind open waste burning practices from published literature. This review used systematic methods such as PRISMA 2020 methodology, a bibliometric approach, and qualitative content analysis to determine and assess 84 articles related to open burning. The results show that environmental risks and emission factors related to open burning incidents at the landfill or residential level are preferable topics that will be rising in the years to come. Coupling methods such as a transect-based approach with a questionnaire survey and mobile-static plume sampling to determine the activities and incidents as baseline data for risk assessment will help researchers gain a robust dataset of open burning emission inventory. In addition, it was found that environmental knowledge and awareness levels influence open burning practices, thereby opening up opportunities for future research.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10163-022-01430-9.

Exposure study on susceptible people - SPES: An integrative biomonitoring approach

BACKGROUND

The evaluation of environmental exposure risk requires a global analysis of pollution phenomena, including biological effects and potentially correlated clinical outcomes in susceptible populations. Although human biomonitoring plays a fundamental role in assessing the degree of contamination, it is not effective alone in identifying a direct link between exposure, biomolecular effects and outcomes on target organisms. While toxicogenomics and epidemiology are mainly focused on the investigation of molecular reactions and clinical outcomes, the monitoring of environmental matrices works independently to characterize the territorial distribution of toxic compounds, without proving any correlated health risk for residents.

OBJECTIVES

We propose a new biomonitoring model based on a whole systemic analytical evaluation of environmental context. The paradigm of the method consists of identifying the sources of pollution, the migration pathways of those pollutants and their effects on target organisms. By means of this innovative, holistic epidemiological approach, we included healthy human subjects in a cohort to identify potential risks of exposure and predict possible correlated clinical outcomes. 4205 residents of the Campania region were enrolled in the "SPES" biomonitoring study, which especially focused on the areas dubbed "Land of Fires" in the recent decades.

DISCUSSION

The analysis of environmental exposure risk suffers the lack of data integration from various science fields, and this comes down to a limited point of view and a limited knowledge of phenomena. In implementing our model, we first constructed an analytical picture of the Real-world situation. We next conducted a comparative risk assessment, in order to identify possible correlations between pollution and health within a holistic view.

CONCLUSION

This type of research activities aims to support the implementation of public health interventions and to become a reference model in the evaluation of the risk of exposure to environmental pollutants.

A web based methane emissions modelling platform: Models and software development

This study developed a platform using a modelling and web technology approach to estimate methane emissions from landfills to assess methane emissions across the region. The web technology-based software EnLandFill, which was developed, allows users to log in, interact with landfill databases, and document and extract information regarding landfill emissions. Models that integrate web technology with databases and geographic information systems (GIS) are described. One of the achievements of this study was the development of an inverse algorithm to determine the waste source capacity according to a dispersion model, accounting for complex terrain and meteorological time-series data extracted from the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. EnLandFill software was applied to quantify CH₄ emissions for key developing regions, predicting approximately 158,977 tonnes, equivalent to 167,786,878 m³ of CH₄ for the period of 2019 - 2030. The software also allows the evaluation of the scope and level of impacts of landfill emissions under given meteorological conditions.

Campania and cancer mortality: An inseparable pair? The role of environmental quality and socio-economic deprivation

The region of Campania in Southern Italy features high levels of socio-economic deprivation and low levels of environmental quality. A vast strand of the scientific literature has tried to verify whether poor environmental quality and widespread socio-economic deprivation might explain the high cancer mortality rates (CMRs) observed, especially in the municipalities - infamously labelled as the 'Land of Fires' - that were hit most severely by the crisis. While some studies managed to identify links between these two confounding factors and cancer mortality, the evidence is overall mixed. Interesting information may be drawn from the observation of municipal data: in spite of previous claims, some municipalities featuring high environmental quality and low socio-economic deprivation also display high CMRs, while other Campanian municipalities facing disastrous environmental and socio-economic conditions are characterised by low CMRs. These figures, in contrast to common sentiment and previous studies, need to be investigated thoroughly in order to assess the exact role of the confounding factors. In this work, we aim to identify the municipalities where confounding factors act as driving forces in the determination of high CMRs through an original multi-step analysis based on frequentist and Bayesian analysis. Pinpointing these municipalities could allow policymakers to design targeted and effective policy measures aimed at reducing cancer mortality.

The dynamics of indiscriminate/ illegal dumping of waste in Fisantekraal, Cape Town, South Africa

Indiscriminate dumping may be considered a 'wicked problem', as it is regarded as a complex, intractable, open-ended problem and it includes rights-based and justice issues. An understanding of the dynamics of indiscriminate dumping may assist with improving the management of indiscriminate dumping. The results show that indiscriminate dumping in Fisantekraal is a serious threat. From the first round of data collection to the last, no dumpsite disappeared despite the efforts of the community to clean up each month. Rather, the formation of new dumpsites and the extension of a few existing ones were evident. The morphology composition of the waste suggests that the main dumpers are the households and spaza shop owners. Conversations and collaboration between the authorities and community are encouraged in order to explore solutions to indiscriminate dumping.

Status quo of illegal dumping research: Way forward

Due to the rapid social and economic development, the past decades have witnessed the improvement of human being's quality of life and the speedy development of the construction industry. Meanwhile, the illegal dumping of solid waste has presented a significant issue. By using the method of systematic review, this study critically examined the literature related to illegal dumping that were published since 1990, and analyzed the current status and future trends of related research. Results show that the current studies on illegal dumping mainly focus on four perspectives: environmental science and toxicology, economics, management, and the use of emerging technologies. This critical review revealed that although the issue of illegal dumping has been widely recognized in recent years, some questions remain unanswered. Therefore, a future research agenda is proposed. These include: (1) Identifying the migration of pollutants in the food chain during the illegal dumping; (2) Implementing targeted treatment of illegal dumping pollutants; (3) Improving the stakeholder decision analysis model; (4) Expanding the scope of research on stakeholders of illegal dumping; (5) Formulating an unified evaluation standard for the related costs of illegal dumping; (6) Strengthening the evaluation of the interaction effects of influencing factors; (7) Comparing the effects of different types of factors; (8) the exploration of other influencing factors; (9) Analyzing illegal dumping by combining big data with the amount of solid waste; (10) Combining with monitoring to analyze the illegal dumping of household waste.

Investigating correlations between illness and defensive behaviour approach: A case of twin cities of Pakistan

Municipal solid waste (MSW) management has emerged as a major problem for modern societies in recent decades. An optimal waste management system is essential to prevent the pollution burden and associated health related issues. This study carries out an empirical evaluation of the illness caused by inadequate solid waste management in the metropolitan of Rawalpindi-Islamabad. The model is based on utility-maximizing consumer behavior and predicted probability of disease in the household is estimated by employing “seemingly uncorrelated bivariate probit model”. Primary data obtained through multistage random sampling that comprises of 849 respondents. The findings show that irregular waste disposal sites in the vicinity of residences cause illness. The key findings indicate that distance from dumpsites and use of contaminated water adversely affect the health outcomes. Furthermore, the results show that respondents were unable to engage in defensive activities due to a lack of awareness. Oft-times, the waste is dumped in illegal sites that is burnt thus causing excessive air and ground water pollution. The results shed light on the respondents' understanding of the negative consequences of excessive waste disposal and study suggests measures that motivate households to engage in defensive activities through effective campaigns and capacity building programmes that ensure sustainable solid waste management.

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An overview of the household solid waste generation and management practices.

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Construct households' illness function regarding improper waste disposal practices.

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Construct households' defensive behaviour regarding illness function.

Identification and quantitative chemical analysis of betaines in different organic wastes and their bioconversion composts

Global organic waste is increasing, bioconversion of organic waste arises because it can recover valuable nutrients and produce bioactive substances. Betaines are important bioactive substances in plants under environmental stress, but have received limited attention in vermicompost/larvae bioconversion compost. In this study, betaines in organic waste and vermicompost/larvae bioconversion compost were identified and quantified by HPLC-ESI-MS/MS. We observed the existence of glutamine betaine in all samples, which was first found in natural sources recently. Valine betaine was the highest among all detected betaines followed by GABA betaine, and both were rare in plants. The existence of tyrosine betaine in cow dung (CD) and vermicompost (CDV) was found, which was previously shown to be in fungi. Most importantly, we found larvae bioconversion could increase betaines by 5.56-99.75%, while vermicomposting decreased them. Bioconversion of larvae can effectively increase betaines in compost and can be used to produce potential novel functional organic fertilizers.

Impact of environmental changes on Dermatology

Urbanization, pollution and the modification of natural landscapes are characteristics of modern society, where the change in human relations with the environment and the impact on biodiversity are environmental determinants that affect the health-disease relationship. The skin is an organ that has a strong interface with the environment and, therefore, the prevalence patterns of dermatoses may reflect these environmental changes. In this article, aspects related to deforestation, fires, urbanization, large-scale agriculture, extensive livestock farming, pollution and climatic changes are discussed regarding their influence on the epidemiology of skin diseases. It is important that dermatologists be aware of their social responsibility in order to promote sustainable practices in their community, in addition to identifying the impacts of environmental imbalances on different dermatoses, which is essential for the prevention and treatment of these diseases.

Application of machine learning methods for the prediction of organic solid waste treatment and recycling processes: A review

Conventional treatment and recycling methods of organic solid waste contain inherent flaws, such as low efficiency, low accuracy, high cost, and potential environmental risks. In the past decade, machine learning has gradually attracted increasing attention in solving the complex problems of organic solid waste treatment. Although significant research has been carried out, there is a lack of a systematic review of the research findings in this field. This study sorts the research studies published between 2003 and 2020, summarizes the specific application fields, characteristics, and suitability of different machine learning models, and discusses the relevant application limitations and future prospects. It can be concluded that studies mostly focused on municipal solid waste management, followed by anaerobic digestion, thermal treatment, composting, and landfill. The most widely used model is the artificial neural network, which has been successfully applied to various complicated non-linear organic solid waste related problems.

Exposure to waste sites and their impact on health: a panel and geospatial analysis of nationally representative data from South Africa, 2008-2015

BACKGROUND

Rapid population growth, urbanisation, and economic development have led to an unprecedented number of waste sites in developing countries. This challenge has become a contentious international relations issue, with an unsustainable amount of waste and its health consequences often being borne by developing countries. However, little national-level evidence is available in sub-Saharan Africa to quantify the association between exposure to waste sites and health.

METHODS

We used panel data from the South African National Income Dynamics Study (SA-NIDS) to investigate the association between exposure to waste sites and asthma, tuberculosis, diabetes, and depression. The SA-NIDS is a panel survey of a nationally representative sample in South Africa, which includes data reporting the health status of 32 255 individuals between 2008 and 2015. The study exposure was distance of households, in km, to the nearest waste site, derived from waste site geospatial locations from the South Africa Waste Information System.

FINDINGS

We observed a substantial increase in exposure of households to waste sites between 2008 and 2015. The median distance between study households and waste sites decreased from 68·3 km (IQR 31·1-111·7) to 8·5 km (3·0-23·7). Residing within 5 km of a waste site was significantly associated with asthma (adjusted relative risk 1·41; 95% CI 1·20-1·64), tuberculosis (1·18; 1·02-1·36), diabetes (1·25; 1·05-1·49), and depression (1·08; 1·03-1·14). The association persisted even after controlling for multiple socioeconomic factors.

INTERPRETATION

We identified multiple adverse health outcomes in individuals living close to waste sites at a national level in South Africa, suggesting the need to reduce the number and size of waste sites to diminish harmful effects on health and wellbeing for communities living in close proximity to such sites.

FUNDING

South African Medical Research Council, South African National Treasury, and Wellcome Trust.

Artificial intelligence applications in solid waste management: A systematic research review

The waste management processes typically involve numerous technical, climatic, environmental, demographic, socio-economic, and legislative parameters. Such complex nonlinear processes are challenging to model, predict and optimize using conventional methods. Recently, artificial intelligence (AI) techniques have gained momentum in offering alternative computational approaches to solve solid waste management (SWM) problems. AI has been efficient at tackling ill-defined problems, learning from experience, and handling uncertainty and incomplete data. Although significant research was carried out in this domain, very few review studies have assessed the potential of AI in solving the diverse SWM problems. This systematic literature review compiled 85 research studies, published between 2004 and 2019, analyzing the application of AI in various SWM fields, including forecasting of waste characteristics, waste bin level detection, process parameters prediction, vehicle routing, and SWM planning. This review provides comprehensive analysis of the different AI models and techniques applied in SWM, application domains and reported performance parameters, as well as the software platforms used to implement such models. The challenges and insights of applying AI techniques in SWM are also discussed.

Transdisciplinary interventions for environmental sustainability

This paper presents a case study of a transdisciplinary research based on an ex-post assessment of the environmental and socio-behavioral contexts of solid waste management in Lebanese peri-urban communities. Lessons learned are compiled into the Transdisciplinary Interventions for Environmental Sustainability conceptual framework. The approach starts with building a team of researchers and non-academic partners, continues with co-creating solution-oriented knowledge, and ends by integrating and applying the produced knowledge. The co-created knowledge includes the environmental and socio-behavioral ex-post assessment's results. The former reveals low air pollution levels, evidence of waste-related water contamination, and higher self-reported frequencies of ill-health symptoms and diseases closer to the landfill. The latter indicates that the community's perception about waste production differs from the real accounting of generated waste. Nine lessons are identified: (1) inherent common interest between the researchers and the community, (2) flexible interdisciplinary research team, (3) representative citizen committee, (4) contextually-informed outreach coordinator, (5) iterative research process accounting for the shifting socio-political context, (6) common expectations of the research process, (7) boundary objects leading to spin-off activities in the same setting, (8) effective communication strategy, and (9) ex-post assessment of subsequent societal and scientific impacts. The non-phased framework links all nine pointers in a logical order to ease scalability. The study answers a global need for a unified, clear, broadly adopted framework for transdisciplinarity and a deeper understanding of factors ensuring full-circle knowledge co-creation in waste-related contexts in the global South. The study offers managerial and research implications and suggests avenues for further research.

PCB levels in adipose tissue of dogs from illegal dumping sites in Campania region (Italy)

The aim of the study is to investigate the potential relationship between exposure to PCBs and cancer. In doing so we relied on a sample of dogs coming from a peculiar area of the Campania region (Italy), that has been suffering for illegal waste dumping and open air burning of plastic waste for many years. The latter determined the release of organic and inorganic pollutants, such as the PCBs. By comparing dogs with cancer and healthy dogs, we found much higher PCB concentrations in the former, with a significant difference (p < 0.05) for the non-indicator ∑10NDL-PCB and the DL-PCBs. A regression analysis, controlling for three potentially confounding factors, that are sex, age and weight, confirmed the higher ∑10NDL-PCB concentration in dogs with cancer. Hence, our evidence suggests a potential health hazard for animals and likewise people living in a risky area due to the presence of environmental organic pollutants.

Effects of an Educational Glass Recycling Program against Environmental Pollution in Spain

In this article, we analyzed the effects of an educational glass recycling program on primary schools and their students in Castilla-La Mancha (Spain). A sample of 89 schools, with 20,710 elementary students, was selected by simple random sampling. For the statistical analysis, descriptive techniques (frequencies and statistics), parametric (One Way ANOVA test), and non-parametric (Chi-Square test) inferential techniques were used, with a 5% significance level (p < 0.05). The program’s results showed that 153,576.3 kg of glass (with a value of 17,064.03 €) were recycled. Significant determinants of glass recycling were: School category (p = 0.043), previous environmental/recycling education (p = 0.046), geographic location of school (p = 0.030), gender (p = 0.007), and academic year (p < 0.05). With the program, students learned the importance of glass recycling, obtained a greater knowledge of and habits related to the same, acquired favorable attitudes towards the environment, and promoted glass recycling in their social circles. We conclude that environmental education about glass recycling has positive effects on glass recycling attitudes and behaviors in elementary school students and may be used as a measure to combat the problem of environmental pollution.

Role of Waste Collection Efficiency in Providing a Cleaner Rural Environment

The exposure of rural communities to illegal waste dumping practices associated with the lack of or poor waste collection schemes prior to the closure of rural dumpsites under EU regulations and the role of collection efficiency afterward in reducing this critical environmental threat constitutes a key issue in rural Romania. The present study reveals huge amounts of household uncollected waste released into the natural environment outside the official statistics of rural dumpsites. Despite the expansion of waste collection coverage towards rural areas since 2010, the problem of illegal dumping practice is difficult to solve. The improvement of collection efficiency, better law enforcement, and surveillance of environmental authorities coupled with educational and environmental awareness are necessary steps to combat this bad practice. A circular economy paradigm must be enacted in rural regions through separate collection schemes and to improve cost-efficient alternatives, such as home composting, and traditional and creative reuse practices, particularly in less developed regions.

Assessment of optimal conditions for the restoration and recovery of agricultural soil

We assessed whether soil with high Cr contamination could be reclaimed by alkali, mineral, and organic acid-based ligands (OABLs) washing. We tested HNO₃, H₂SO₄, HCl, NaOH, H₂O₂, lactic acid (LA), malic acid (MA), oxalic acid (OA), and citric acid (CA), together with EDTA, obtaining the highest efficiencies in presence of 1 M sulfuric acid (98%). Nonetheless we noted that using OABLs, we obtained a Cr(III) removal efficiency similar to the one obtained using mineral acids. Indeed 1 M of LA and MA and 0.8 M of OA allowed obtaining, respectively, 88%, 75%, and 67% removal percentage. The extraction process with OABLs was strongly dependent on intraparticle diffusion of Cr-LA, Cr-MA, and Cr-OA complexes. We also determined the apparent diffusion coefficients. Residual toxicity of treated soils was tested with the nematode, Caenorhabditis elegans. The OABL washing generally allowed getting a soil without Cr and with reduced toxicity. However, the washing process also removed other cations that acted as nutrients. Consequently, we conducted toxicity tests on enriched soil and found that the mortality index improved. In some cases (LA and MA), mortality was comparable to that observed with uncontaminated control samples. In contrast, when contaminated soils were washed with sulfuric acid, in all conditions, we observed significant ecotoxicity. Therefore, we concluded that only the OABL treatment provided a non-toxic soil that could be reused for anthropic activities.

Analyzing Municipal Solid Waste Treatment Scenarios in Rapidly Urbanizing Cities in Developing Countries: The Case of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Currently, large quantities of municipal solid waste (MSW) in many cities of the developing countries are being dumped in informal or formal but unregulated dumpsites that threaten the ecological environment and general public health. The situation in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania is of particular concern and is further challenged by a rapidly growing population and urbanization without adequate waste management systems. Current MSW treatment options have been selected based on the judgment and the experience of individuals with authority while underestimating the role of scientifically derived techniques. This study analyzes the most efficient waste treatment options, particularly scenarios with the lowest economic and environmental costs (EcC and EnC, respectively). It uses 12 years (2006-2017) of MSW management data and compares potential waste treatment options for the identified waste streams. A total of 108 different scenarios were designed, and a multi-criteria analysis method was applied to enable the identification of 11 scenarios with acceptable EcCs and EnCs. These formed an initial decision matrix of aggregation dominance that was then categorized into four groups, each represented by the most ideal point. Finally, the dominant scenario that formed the core for all considered options was found. It costs around $274,100 USD while saving about 1585 metric tons (MT) of CO2 emissions daily. This suggests that after all the MSW generated in the city is collected and segregated, organic waste should be composted whilst plastic, paper, glass, and ferrous metal should be recycled. After treatment, other waste will go to some form of landfill. Sustainable management of MSW in this city and others with similar conditions should consider particular local conditions and could use the methods and the findings of this study as a starting point.

Asking Sensitive Questions Using the Randomized Response Approach in Public Health Research: An Empirical Study on the Factors of Illegal Waste Disposal

A survey study is a research method commonly used to quantify population characteristics in biostatistics and public health research, two fields that often involve sensitive questions. However, if answering sensitive questions could cause social undesirability, respondents may not provide honest responses to questions that are asked directly. To mitigate the response distortion arising from dishonest answers to sensitive questions, the randomized response technique (RRT) is a useful and effective statistical method. However, research has seldom addressed how to apply the RRT in public health research using an online survey with multiple sensitive questions. Thus, we help fill this research gap by employing an innovative unrelated question design method. To illustrate how the RRT can be implemented in a multivariate analysis setting, we conducted a survey study to examine the factors affecting the intention of illegal waste disposal. This study demonstrates an application of the RRT to investigate the factors affecting people's intention of illegal waste disposal. The potential factors of the intention were adopted from the theory of planned behavior and the general deterrence theory, and a self-administered online questionnaire was employed to collect data. Using the RRT, a covariance matrix was extracted for examining the hypothesized model via structural equation modeling. The survey results show that people's attitude toward the behavior and their perceived behavioral control significantly positively affect their intention. This paper is useful for showing researchers and policymakers how to conduct surveys in environmental or public health related research that involves multiple sensitive questions.

Composition and emission of VOC from biogas produced by illegally managed waste landfills in Giugliano (Campania, Italy) and potential impact on the local population

The composition in Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) of the biogas produced by seven landfills of Giugliano (Naples, Campania, Italy) was determined and VOC emission rates assessed to verify if these compounds represent a potential threat to the population living nearby. VOC composition in the biogas could not be predicted, as heterogeneous waste was dumped from the late 1980s to the early 2000s and then underwent biological degradation. No data are available on the amount and composition of VOC in the biogas before the landfills closure as no operational biogas collection system was present. In this study, VOC composition was determined by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), after collecting samples from collection pipes and from soil fractures in cover soil or capping. Individual VOC were quantified and data compared with those collected at two landfills in Latium, when they were still in operation. Relevant differences were observed, mainly due to waste aging, but no specific VOC revealing toxic waste dumping was found, although the concurrent presence of certain compounds suggested that dumping of industrial wastes might have occurred. The average VOC emission was assessed and a dispersion model was run to find out if the emitted plume could affect the health of population. The results suggested that fugitive emissions did not represent a serious danger, since the concentrations simulated at the neighboring cities were below the threshold limits for acute and chronic diseases. However, VOC plume could cause annoyance at night when the steady state conditions of the atmosphere enhance pollutants accumulation in the lower layers. In addition, some of the emitted VOC, such as alkylbenzenes and monoterpenes, can contribute to tropospheric ozone formation.

Performance Analysis of Planetary Boundary Layer Parameterization Schemes in WRF Modeling Set Up over Southern Italy

Predictions of boundary layer meteorological parameters with accuracy are essential for achieving good weather and air quality regional forecast. In the present work, we have analyzed seven planetary boundary layer (PBL) parameterization schemes in a Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model over the Naples-Caserta region of Southern Italy. WRF model simulations were performed with 1-km horizontal resolution, and the results were compared against data collected by the small aircraft Sky Arrow Environmental Research Aircraft (ERA) during 7–9 October 2014. The selected PBL schemes include three first-order closure PBL schemes (ACM2, MRF, YSU) and four turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) closure schemes (MYJ, UW, MYNN2, and BouLac). A performance analysis of these PBL schemes has been investigated by validating them with aircraft measurements of meteorological parameters profiles (air temperature, specific humidity, wind speed, wind direction) and PBL height to assess their efficiency in terms of the reproduction of observed weather conditions. Results suggested that the TKE closure schemes perform better than first-order closure schemes, and the MYNN2 closure scheme is close to observed values most of the time. It is observed that the inland locations are better simulated than sea locations, and the morning periods are better simulated than those in the afternoon. The results are emphasizing that meteorology-induced variability is larger than the variability in PBL schemes.

Cancer mortality rates and spillover effects among different areas: A case study in Campania (southern Italy)

The present study analyses the spatial distribution of cancer mortality rates in Campania (an Italian region with the highest population density), in which residents in several areas are exposed to major environmental health hazards. The paper has the methodological aims of verifying the existence, or otherwise, of a spatial correlation between mortality from different types of cancer and the occurrence of some specific area characteristics, using both Bayesian statistics and spatial econometrics. We show that the use of the Spatial Empirical Bayes Smoothed Rate, instead of the more commonly used Raw Rate, allows a more comprehensive analysis of the mortality rate, highlighting the existence of different cluster sizes throughout the region, according to the type of cancer mortality rate analysed. By using a Spatial Durbin model we verify that cancer mortality rates are related to the environmental characteristics of specific areas with spatial spillover effects. Our results validate the hypothesis that living along the coast by Mt Vesuvius and, to a lesser extent, along the Domitio-Flegreo coast NW of Naples and in more urbanised municipalities, increases the risk of dying of cancer. By contrast, living in less urbanised municipalities, with the presence of natural and historical attractions, has a positive effect on the residents' health, reducing their risk of disease. In both cases significant spillover effects (negative and positive) are found in municipalities close to the areas in question. Despite a number of reasonable limitations, our findings may provide useful information support for policy makers to foster knowledge, awareness and informed participation of citizens.

Denitrification of landfill leachate under different hydraulic retention time in a two-stage anoxic/oxic combined membrane bioreactor process: Performances and bacterial community

Two-stage anoxic/oxic combined membrane bioreactor (A/O-A/O-MBR) process was used to treat leachate generated from Shenyang Laohuchong landfill, and the effect of hydraulic retention time (HRT) was studied. A long HRT of 9 d and a short HRT of 5 d showed negative effect on the stability of process, resulting in a higher organic concentration of effluent than that with a HRT of 7 d, while the highest removal of chemical oxygen demand (COD), ammonia (NH₄⁺-N) and total nitrogen (TN) were achieved with a HRT of 7 d, which was 82.4%, 99.1% and 75.3% respectively. The analysis of microbial communities by high-throughput sequencing showed that phyla Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes were the dominant bacteria, which accounted for 36.63-42.39%, 29.21-38.66%, respectively. For genus classification, the most representative of Ferruginibacter, unclassified-Saprospiraceae and Nitrosomonas accounted for 20.76-35.11% totally. The other communities, including Nitrobacter, Planctomyces, Rhodobacteraceae and Nitrospirae, were also developed for organic degradation and denitrification.

Heavy Environmental Pressure in Campania and Other Italian Regions: A Short Review of Available Evidence

The area of Naples and Campania region, in Italy, are experiencing the dramatic consequences of diffuse and illegal waste dumping, resulting in possible threats to human health. This area has been referred to as the “Land of Fires” because of the common practice of waste burning. International interest in the Campania “waste emergency” has triggered several epidemiological studies. This article is aimed at highlighting the body of evidence available concerning human and environmental contamination in the Campania region, and considers the possible lack of comparable knowledge about the situation in other areas suffering from high environmental pollution. We analyzed the results of studies addressing environmental pollution and population health in the Campania region, starting from the most recent reviews on this topic, and compared their findings with those concerning other regions. We reviewed 18 studies of epidemiological/cancer surveillance and human or animal biomonitoring. These studies show worrying results, which could be considered comparable to those available for other Italian areas impacted by heavy industrial activities. The release of environmental contaminants associated with waste incineration and waste disposal in landfills poses a risk to public health, as shown by a number of studies (although not conclusively). The current knowledge available for the Campania region is better than that available for other areas which are facing similar problems due to anthropic activities, including illegal waste trafficking. Thus, Naples and Campania could represent a valuable setting to develop general models for studies of environmental and human contamination.

Integrated hierarchical geo-environmental survey strategy applied to the detection and investigation of an illegal landfill: A case study in the Campania Region (Southern Italy)

This paper describes an approach to detect and investigate the main characteristics of a solid waste landfill through the integration of geological, geographical and geophysical methods. In particular, a multi-temporal analysis of the landfill morphological evolution was carried out using aerial and satellite photos, since there were no geological and geophysical data referring to the study area. Subsequently, a surface geophysical prospection was performed through geoelectric and geomagnetic methods. In particular, the combination of electrical resistivity, induced polarization and magnetic measurements removed some of the uncertainties, generally associated with a separate utilization of these techniques. This approach was successfully tested to support the Prosecutor Office of Salerno (S Italy) during a specific investigation about an illegal landfill. All the collected field data supported the reconstruction of the site-specific history, while the real quarry geometry and site geology were defined. Key elements of novelty of this method are the combination and the integration of different methodological approaches, as the parallel and combined use of satellite, aerial and in-situ collected data, that were validated in a real investigation and that revealed the effectiveness of this strategy.

Evaluation of Trace Elements in Potatoes (Solanum tuberosum) from a Suburban Area of Naples, Italy: The "Triangle of Death"

Human exposure to contaminated food is a general health concern worldwide; it is necessary to evaluate food safety with respect to contaminants present in the edible parts of major food crops. This study evaluated the concentrations of 17 trace elements (As, Be, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Sb, Se, Sn, Tl, V, and Zn) from 51 potato plantations in the Campania region, inside the area known as the "Triangle of Death," with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry analysis. Results confirm that the potatoes collected from the suburban area of Naples contained concentrations of trace elements below the safe limits prescribed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the World Health Organization. The concentrations of elements were similar to those reported for potatoes grown in other countries. Monitoring the content of toxic and potentially toxic elements is one of the most important aspects of food quality assurance. The environmental persistence of metals may result in the accumulation of significant levels of these contaminants in plants. They are absorbed to different extents, depending on their source, soil and climatic factors, plant genotype, and agrotechnical conditions, thereby entering the food chain and representing a risk to human health.

Vetiver plantlets in aerated system degrade phenol in illegally dumped industrial wastewater by phytochemical and rhizomicrobial degradation

This research evaluated the feasibility of using vetiver plantlets (Vetiveria zizanioides (L.) Nash) on a floating platform with aeration to degrade phenol (500 mg/L) in illegally dumped industrial wastewater (IDIWW). The IDIWW sample was from the most infamous illegal dumping site at Nong Nae subdistrict, Phanom Sarakham district, Chachoengsao province, Thailand. Laboratory results suggested that phenol degradation by vetiver involves two phases: Phase I, phytopolymerization and phyto-oxidation assisted by root-produced peroxide (H₂O₂) and peroxidase (POD), followed by phase II, a combination of phase I with enhanced rhizomicrobial degradation. The first 360-400 h of phenol degradation were dominated by phytopolymerization and phyto-oxidation yielding particulate polyphenols (PPP) or particulate organic matter (POM) as by-products, while phenol decreased to around 145 mg/L. In Phase II, synergistically, rhizomicrobial growth was ∼100-folds greater on the roots of the vetiver plantlets than in the IDIWW and participated in the microbial degradation of phenol at this lower phenol concentration, increasing the phenol degradation rate by more than three folds. This combination of phytochemical and rhizomicrobiological processes eliminated phenol in IDIWW in less than 766 h (32 days), while without the vetiver plantlets, phenol degradation by aerated microbial degradation alone may require 235 days. To our knowledge, this is the first that systematically reveals the complete phenol degradation mechanism by vetiver plantlets in real aerated wastewater.

Comparative study on the occurrence of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in breast milk and infant formula and risk assessment

The study compared the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) profile of human milk collected from Italian mothers and different brands of infant formula available on Italian market. Levels of 14 PAHs most frequently occurred in food, PAH markers listed by Commission Regulation (EC) No. 1881/2006, and carcinogenic PAHs classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, were determined by high-pressure liquid chromatography with fluorescence detector. The average concentrations of total PAHs were 114.93 in breast milk and 53.68 μg kg^-1 in infant formula. Furthermore, Benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) and the sum of ∑PAH4 markers (BaP, Chrysene, Benzo(a,h)anthracene and Benzo(b)fluoranthene) were higher than the permissible limit of 1 μg kg^-1 in 43% and 86% for breast milk and in 10% and 76% for infant formula samples, respectively. Breast milk showed higher levels (P < 0.05) of carcinogenic, and possible carcinogenic hydrocarbons than infant formula samples. Both in human and commercial milk, data showed the occurrence of low and high molecular weight PAHs, respectively from petrogenic and pyrolytic environmental sources, characterizing the infant and mother exposure. Particularly, waste incineration could have represented an important exposure source for infants during breastfeeding, through exposition of mothers resident in some areas of Southern Italy. High PAH levels detected in infant formula enriched with LC-PUFA might be related to the contamination of the vegetable oils added as ingredients. Results showed a high percentage of samples of both breast milk and infant formulas with margin of exposure (MOE) value indicating a potential concern for consumer health.