UK – results of health impacts from Sheffield landfill released

Waste management gets up the noses of local people: “There may be a genuine causal link between the landfill site and people complaining of symptoms of nasal irritation”.



North Sheffield Primary Care Trust (PCT) has released the second report of its Health Impact Assessment of the Parkwood Landfill site, which finds no evidence of significant levels of illness related to the site.



The report concludes that although there is abundant evidence that the health of the population living close to the site is poor, there is no good evidence that this is directly as a result of the landfill site itself.



There are other much more serious public health threats to the population of north Sheffield, and these need to be addressed as a priority rather than calling for further controls or closure of the landfill site. Although it will never be possible to give the landfill site an absolutely clean bill of health, North Sheffield PCT is confident that if there is any illness associated with the site it is dwarfed by illness caused by other public health threats that can and should be dealt with.



Dr Jeremy Wight, Director of Public Health at the PCT, who has led this study said: “What we have found is essentially good news for the people of north Sheffield, and in particular those who live close to the site. We were asked to undertake this study because local people were worried that the landfill site was causing them to be ill. We have undertaken a long and thorough investigation, and conclude that any health impact is very minor indeed, especially when viewed in comparison with the other public health problems in north Sheffield. Although we will continue to monitor the situation, and will respond to any specific health issues raised, our priority must now be to pay attention to those public health threats such as heart and lung disease, diabetes and cancer, which we know are causing illness and death in north Sheffield and which we can do something about”



About the study



The study was undertaken in response to local concerns that the landfill site was causing illness and death. It was conducted over three years, and has been overseen by a Steering Group with representation from the local community, the site operators, the Environment Agency and the Environmental Health Department of Sheffield City Council. It used a variety of methods to look for any illness that may be linked to the site including a review of all published research literature on the links between landfill sites and ill health, analysis of routinely collected data on the number of birth defects and cancers in the area, a local health questionnaire, scientific modelling of the level of exposure that people living in the area may have to anything released from the site, and other sources of pollution. In addition, some GP records of local residents were examined and direct measurement of lung function of some people in the area was undertaken.



Findings



The analysis of birth defects and cancers showed that there was no increase in either of these close to the site as compared to further away. The local health questionnaire revealed that people living close to the site were more likely to complain of a number of symptoms than people living further away. However when the level of exposure that people may have to anything released from the site (which takes into account both the weather data and the hills and valleys in the area) is taken into account, the likelihood of people reporting symptoms is much more closely related to the distance they live from the site than to the level of exposure.



This suggests that increased symptom reporting is more likely to be a result of people being aware of, and concerned about the site, rather than because there is a true causal relationship. The only symptom for which this is not the case is nasal irritation. Therefore, there may be a genuin