Key Health Data for the West Midlands 2002
CHAPTER FIVE: LANDFILL SITES
List of Tables
List of Figures
Main Body
1: The Geography of the West Midlands
2: Life Expectancy and Inequalities
3: Drinking Water Quality
4: Chemical incidents in the West Midlands
5: Landfill Sites
6: IPPC
7: Fires in the West Midlands
8: Road Traffic Accidents
9: Drownings
10: Access to a healthy diet
11: National Health Service Priority Areas
12: Communicable Disease
13: Older People
Developed societies produce considerable volumes of waste. Managing this waste has become an increasingly contentious issue with many communities reluctant to accept the responsibility for reducing waste (e.g. reduced packaging, recycling, reuse) or for the consequences of disposal such as landfill sites and incinerators (Harrison, 2003). The West Midlands produced about 16.6 million tonnes of controlled waste in 1998/99; about 46% industrial/ commercial in origin, 38% construction and demolition waste, and 16% municipal waste. Almost half of the 2.7 million tonnes of municipal waste was produced in the Metropolitan area and 70% of the 7.5 million tonnes of industrial and commercial waste was from industrial activity. Compared with other regions, the West Midlands produced relatively large proportions of inert/construction and demolition waste, metals and scrap equipment, and general contaminated waste. About 600,000 tonnes of the industrial and commercial waste was classified as 'special waste' and around 42% of total waste was landfilled (West Midlands Regional Waste Planning Group 2001). In the past in the UK municipal and hazardous wastes have been disposed in common landfills. Although European legislation will prevent this in the future there is a large number of current or former co-disposal landfill sites across the region.
The waste material deposited in a landfill differs markedly from site to site and within the site itself. However, all landfill sites have the potential to release pollutants into the environment. While well designed and managed modern landfill sites represent a negligible exposure risk to the population, older and/or poorly managed sites can release toxic materials. In the West Midlands the most important exposure route will be inhalation of released gases (contamination of drinking water supplies is both unlikely in itself and subject to rapid identification as a result of the extensive drinking water monitoring programme). It is estimated that 80% of the population of Great Britain lives within 2 km of a current or closed landfill site (Elliott, 2001), a % that we have confirmed in the West Midlands.
The evidence linking residential exposure to landfill sites and disease is mixed but a number of studies have suggested an association with self reported subjective symptoms such as headache and insomnia (Shustermann 1991; Lipscomb 1991) and more convincingly some reproductive effects (Geschwind 1992; Dolk 1998; Fielder 2000; Vrijheid 2002) which warrant further investigation. Although the evidence is not particularly strong, historically poor management and regulation mean it is actually quite difficult to be sure exactly what is in many older landfill sites and a large proportion of the West Midlands population could be at risk of exposure to hazardous waste or its by-products.
We are collaborating with the Perinatal Institute and the Chemical Hazards Management and Research Centre in a regional study of congenital anomalies and other reproductive effects and residence in relation to landfill sites. Figure 5.1 shows the location of known active and closed landfill sites in the West Midlands county.
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Figure 5.1. Map of Landfill sites West Midlands 2001 |
References
Harrison RM. Hazardous Waste Landfill Sites and Congenital Anomalies. Occup Environ Med, 60, 79-80 2003.
West Midlands Regional Waste Planning Group. West Midlands Regional Waste Planning Strategy. 2001. (at http://www.wmlga.gov.uk/draft_waste.pdf)
Elliott P, Briggs D, Morris S, de Hoogh C, Hurt C, Kold Jensen T, Maitland I, Richardson S, Wakefield J, and Jarup L., Risk of adverse birth outcomes in populations living near landfill sites, BMJ, 323, 363-368 2001.
Shustermann D, Lipscomb J, Neutra R, Satin K. Symptom prevalence and odor-worry interaction near hazardous waste sites. Environ Health Perspect, 94, 25-30 1991.
Lipscomb JA. Goldman LR. Satin KP. Smith DF. Vance WA. Neutra RR. A follow-up study of the community near the McColl waste disposal site. Environ Health Perspect ,94,15-24 1991.
Geschwind SA, Stolwijk JAJ, Bracken M, Fitzgerald E, Stark A, Olsen C, Melius J. Risk of congenital malformations associated with proximity to hazardous waste sites. Am J Epidemiol, 135, 1197-1207 1992.
Dolk H, Vrijheid M et al. Risk of congenital anomalies near hazardous-waste landfill sites in Europe: the EUROHAZCON study. Lancet ,352, 423-7 1998.
Fielder HMP, Poon-King CM, Palmer SR, Moss N, Coleman G. Assessment of impact on health of residents living near the Nant-y-Gwyddon landfill site: retrospective analysis, BMJ, 320,19-22 2000.
Vrijheid M., Dolk H., Armstrong B., Abramsky L., Bianchi F., Fazarinc I., Garne E., Ide R., Nelen V., Robert E., Scott J.E.S., Stone D. and Tenconi R., Chromosomal congenital anomalies and residence near hazardous waste landfill sites, Lancet, 359, 320-322 2002.
Environment Agency. (2003) (http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/)
For more information please contact Sarafina
Cotterill on 0121 414 3368
© Department of Public Health and Epidemiology, University
of Birmingham