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

Alfredo Mazza, Prisco Piscitelli, Andrea Falco, Maria Lucia Santoro, Manuela Colangelo, Giovanni Imbriani, Adele Idolo, Antonella De Donno, Leopoldo Iannuzzi and Annamaria Colao
Additional contact information
Alfredo Mazza: General Hospital Sarno, Local Health Authority ASL SA, 84087 Sarno (Salerno), Italy
Prisco Piscitelli: Southern Italy Medical Institute (IOS), Medicina Futura Research, 80100 Naples, Italy
Andrea Falco: Southern Italy Medical Institute (IOS), Medicina Futura Research, 80100 Naples, Italy
Maria Lucia Santoro: Euro Mediterranean Scientific Biomedical Institute, 72100 Brindisi, Italy
Manuela Colangelo: Euro Mediterranean Scientific Biomedical Institute, 72100 Brindisi, Italy
Giovanni Imbriani: Euro Mediterranean Scientific Biomedical Institute, 72100 Brindisi, Italy
Adele Idolo: Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences and Technologies (DiSTeBA), University of Salento, 73100 Lecce, Italy
Antonella De Donno: Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences and Technologies (DiSTeBA), University of Salento, 73100 Lecce, Italy
Leopoldo Iannuzzi: National Research Council (CNR), ISPAAM, 80100 Naples, Italy
Annamaria Colao: School of Medicine, University “Federico II”, 80100 Naples, Italy

IJERPH, 2018, vol. 15, issue 1, 1-12

Abstract: 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.

Keywords: illegal dumping; cancer incidence; environment and health; environmental monitoring (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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