• Harmful gases from rotting rubbish can increase chance by up to 33% among people who live within three miles of site • Stillborn births more likely in areas with higher pollution
Living close to landfill (refuse dump) sites can increase your risk of dying from lung cancer, scientists claim.
Rotting rubbish produces harmful gases that, when inhaled, increase the chance of suffering from severe breathing problems.
A study of nearly 250,000 people found that those living within three miles of landfill were more likely to be admitted to hospital or die with lung disease.
And researchers found that children were at particular risk. The study, published in the International Journal of Epidemiology, tracked 242,000 people living close to one of nine landfill sites in central Italy.
The participants were monitored for at least five years – and researchers found that those who were exposed to more airborne pollutants were at higher risk of lung cancer and other breathing problems.
British landfill sites are regulated according to the same rules as those in Italy, set down by the 1999 EU Landfill Directive.
The Environment Agency said last night that English sites are subject to tighter local regulations governing emissions. But campaigners said budget cuts are likely to undermine the agency’s ability to police these standards.
The researchers, from the Lazio Environmental Protection Agency in Rome, tracked levels of hydrogen sulphide – a poisonous gas produced by decomposing vegetation which typically smells of rotten eggs. They predicted that hydrogen sulphide levels were representative of the levels of all pollutants produced by the rubbish dumps.
The team divided all those living within three miles of the sites into four groups, depending on how high their exposure to hydrogen sulphide was.
Meanwhile, pregnant women who are exposed to smog are more likely to suffer a stillbirth, a major review concluded Tuesday.
Danish researchers who examined 13 studies have identified a strong link to car exhaust fumes and other pollution.
They are now calling for tighter curbs on exhausts and industrial waste emissions to reduce the risk to unborn babies, which is most heightened during the third trimester.
The team from the University of Copenhagen in Denmark found that even if the concentration of air pollutants increased by a small amount – four micrograms per cubic metre – the chances of stillbirth rose by four per cent.
Writing in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine, the scientists wrote: “Pregnant women should be aware of the potential adverse effects of ambient air pollution, although the prevention against exposure to air pollutants generally requires more action by the Government than by the individual.”
Lead author Dr. Marie Pedersen said: “Stillbirth is one of the most neglected tragedies in global health today, and the existing evidence summarised deserves additional investigation.”
Those in the group with the highest exposure levels were 34 per cent more likely to die with lung cancer than people who lived more than three miles away from the sites, the researchers found. And people in that group were 30 per cent more likely to die from other respiratory diseases.
