Hazardous waste sites could create health problems for millions

A recent study into the effects of living near hazardous waste dumps has shown that the health risk is severe. The study analysed toxic waste sites in Indonesia, the Philippines and India - covering 373 sites in total. It was found that exposure to these sites could be as damaging to people's health as some infectious diseases.

An estimated 8.6 million people risk exposure to harmful elements that are stored at the hazardous waste sites included in the research. Among the materials that could cause health problems are hexavalent chromium, lead and asbestos. The exposure to these dangerous materials could mean a loss of 829,000 years of good health - in terms of the 8.6 million people who risk exposure.

In the countries included within the research it was found that malaria is the cause of losing 725,000 healthy years, in comparison to the 1.5 million healthy years lost due to air pollution - according to the World Health Organization.

The researchers - using a previous study that determined what the main pollutant of each site was - used computer analysis to estimate how much of these harmful pollutants should be in the human system. Another programme was used to ascertain the number of people that should then be affected by the toxic materials - in terms of statistics for the total number of people exposed. The effects included the disabilities and diseases that each pollutant can cause. Each disease was then assessed in terms of its severity, allowing the estimation of lost healthy years.

The main cause for loss of healthy years - equating to 99 per cent - was lead and hexavalent chromium. Around 65 per cent of those that could suffer from exposure are women and children.

It was also suggested that the countries could contain more hazardous waste dump sites that were not included in the study - approximately another 5,000 sites - meaning that another 35 million people could actually be affected. These estimations mean that another 4.3 million healthy years could be lost as a result of exposure to hazardous waste pollutants.