Dipartimento di Ambiente e Connessa Prevenzione Primaria, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy.
Ann Ist Super Sanita. 2010;46(3):293-8. doi: 10.4415/ANN_10_03_12.
The risk associated with waste exposure depends on the level of emissions arising from waste disposal and from the effects of these emissions on human health (dose-response). In 2007 an epidemiological study was conducted in two Italian provinces of the Campania Region, namely Naples and Caserta, with the aim of assessing the health effects deriving from exposure to waste. In these studies, the important aspect is the population exposure assessment, in relation to the different types of waste disposal. The Regional Agency for Environmental Protection (ARPA Campania) has identified and characterized the various authorized/unauthorized dumping sites in the provinces of Naples and Caserta. Most of the waste disposal used are illegal and invisible (sunken or buried); thus, the toxic substances therein contained are unknown and difficult to identify. In order to locate the possible areas exposed to a higher waste-related health risk, a synthetical "hazard index" (at the municipality level) was designed. By means of GIS, the number of waste impact areas was identified for each of the 196 municipalities in the two provinces; then, Census data (ISTAT 2001) was used to estimate the proportion of the population living in the impact areas. The synthetical hazard index at municipality level accounts for three elements: a) the intrinsic characterization of the waste disposal, determining the way in which the pollutant is released; b) the impact area of the dumping site (within 1 km radius), same areas are influenced by more than one site; c) the density of the population living in the "impact area" surrounding the waste disposal site.
废物暴露的风险取决于废物处理产生的排放水平以及这些排放对人类健康的影响（剂量反应）。2007 年，在意大利坎帕尼亚地区的那不勒斯和卡塞塔两个省进行了一项流行病学研究，目的是评估暴露于废物带来的健康影响。在这些研究中，重要的方面是评估与废物处理方式不同的人群暴露情况。区域环境保护局（ARPA Campania）已经确定并描述了那不勒斯和卡塞塔两省的各种授权/未经授权的倾倒场。大多数废物处理方式都是非法和隐蔽的（沉没或掩埋）；因此，其中所含的有毒物质是未知的，难以识别。为了找到可能面临更高与废物相关的健康风险的区域，设计了一个综合的“危害指数”（在市级水平上）。通过 GIS，确定了这两个省的 196 个市中每个市的废物影响区域数量；然后，使用人口普查数据（ISTAT 2001 年）来估计生活在影响区域中的人口比例。市级综合危害指数考虑了三个要素：a）废物处理的固有特征，确定污染物释放的方式；b）倾倒场的影响区域（在 1 公里半径内），同一区域受到多个倾倒场的影响；c）生活在废物处理场周围“影响区域”的人口密度。
