Environmental Pollution from Illegal Waste Disposal and Health Effects: A Review on the “Triangle of Death”

Maria Triassi, Rossella Alfano, Maddalena Illario, Antonio Nardone, Oreste Caporale and Paolo Montuori
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Maria Triassi: Department of Public Health, "Federico II" University, Naples 80131, Italy
Rossella Alfano: Department of Public Health, "Federico II" University, Naples 80131, Italy
Maddalena Illario: Department of Traslational Medical Science, "Federico II" University, Naples 80131, Italy
Antonio Nardone: Department of Public Health, "Federico II" University, Naples 80131, Italy
Oreste Caporale: Department of Public Health, "Federico II" University, Naples 80131, Italy
Paolo Montuori: Department of Public Health, "Federico II" University, Naples 80131, Italy

IJERPH, 2015, vol. 12, issue 2, 1-21

Abstract: The term “triangle of death” was used for the first time by Senior and Mazza in the journal The Lancet Oncology referring to the eastern area of the Campania Region (Southern Italy) which has one of the worst records of illegal waste dumping practices. In the past decades, many studies have focused on the potential of illegal waste disposal to cause adverse effects on human health in this area. The great heterogeneity in the findings, and the bias in media communication has generated great healthcare doubts, anxieties and alarm. This paper addresses a review of the up-to-date literature on the “triangle of death”, bringing together the available information on the occurrence and severity of health effects related to illegal waste disposal. The Scopus database was searched using the search terms “waste”, “Campania”, “Naples”, “triangle of death” and “human biomonitoring”. Despite the methodological and sampling heterogeneity between the studies, this review examines the evidence from published data concerning cancer incidence, childhood mortality and birth defects, so that the current situation, knowledge gaps and research priorities can be established. The review aims to provide a contribution to the scientific community, and to respond to the concerns of the general population.

Keywords: Campania Region; landfill; incineration; waste; human health; human biomonitoring (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (18)

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