Municipal Solid Waste Management and Health (SDG 3)

A good solid waste management system is undoubtedly like good health: if you are lucky to have it, you don’t notice it, and it is just how things are, and you take it for granted. On the other hand, if things go wrong, it is a big and urgent problem and everything else seems less important . A healthy population is a fundamental prerequisite for sustainable development, undoubtedly constituting a formidable engine for economic growth. Goal 3 of the 2030 Agenda seeks to ensure health and well-being for all, at every stage of life. The goal is underpinned by nine targets that broadly fall into separate but overlapping groups that mainly seek to reduce morbidity and mortality for vulnerable groups (mothers, new-borns, the elderly and children), reduce communicable and non-communicable diseases, reduce risk factors (tobacco, substance abuse, road traffic injuries and hazardous chemicals and pollution), providing universal health coverage, and strengthen the health sector. Improper solid waste disposal and management have a direct and significant effect on public health by increasing the rate of morbidity and mortality.

Indiscriminate handling and disposal of waste from various industrial and domestic activities are substantial contributors of environmental pollutants that pose risks to human health. Although a global problem, the challenge of waste disposal is more pronounced in developing nations and among the social -economically underprivileged who are the most vulnerable. Most cities in developing countries lack enforced solid waste regulations and do not have adequate solutions for waste disposal. Waste workers, children, waste scavengers’ populations living within or close to waste disposal sites are at higher risk of infections and injuries from sharp hospital equipment usually dumped at these sites where they are additionally exposed to diseases like tetanus, HIV as well as Hepatitis B and C among others. The other health risks arise from the breeding of disease vectors, primarily flies and rats leading to food-borne zoonotic diseases.

Municipal waste dumping sites are a major source of environmental toxicants that are of great risk to human health. These include heavy metal and persistent organic pollutants (POPs). Heavy metals such as lead, cadmium, mercury and arsenic are washed into the surface and ground water. Mainstream sources of these heavy metals in waste may include used paint containers and other lead coated containers, cadmium batteries and cigarette stumps for cadmium, broken mercury thermometers and barometers for mercury and containers of arsenic pesticides and wood preservatives for arsenics. These substances are unrecycled and are frequently dumped together with other household waste ending up in the contamination of drinking water sources for humans and animals alike.

Principally, the health effects of heavy metals contamination can be life threatening and may range from headaches, irritability, memory deterioration, diminished intellectual capacity, kidney damage, liver disease and bio-accumulation that leads to development of cancer. A 2007 study by UNEP on environmental pollutants and the impacts on health at the Dandora Municipal Dumping site in Nairobi, showed high level of heavy metals at the dumpsite. The medical evaluation conducted revealed that 50% of the children were found to have blood lead levels above 10 micrograms per deciliter of blood indicating exposure to significant to levels of environmental lead. The hematological system in majority of the children was suppressed with 12.5% having haemoglobin levels below the standard ranges .

Populations get poisoned through inhalation, ingestion and skin absorption. Acute to elevated levels of exposures cause nausea, anorexia, vomiting, gastrointestinal abnormalities and dermatitis. Chronic exposures to heavy metals cause cumulative toxic effects which affect various systems in the body depending on the heavy metal involved. The Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) on the other hand are long-lasting non-biodegradable organic compounds that bio-accumulate in the food especially fish and livestock and pose serious health risks to human populations. These compounds do not dissolve in water but are readily stored in fatty tissue and could be passed to infants through breastfeeding. POPs are absorbed through inhalation, ingestion and absorption through the skin. POPs such as Polychlorinated biphenyl’s (PCBs), Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) and Polychlorinated Dibenzofurans PCDFs have been associated with endocrine disruption, developmental toxicity, low IQs and risks of cancer development.

The health conditions in low-income housing areas are frequently worse than in wealthy areas because of the pre-existing living conditions. Due to deficiencies in the basic infrastructure provision, especially in the informal settlements, these areas suffer from diseases related to fly breeding and contaminated soil and water. Moreover, the lack of open space prompts children in these areas to have no option but to play in very crowded areas thereby seeking other spaces to play especially nearby waste dumps increasing their exposure to pollutants and substances that pose health risks. The solid waste management system in these areas needs to take these factors into account, and measures such as frequent garbage collection days, intensive and frequent education campaigns and removal of waste dumps can improve health conditions for the community living in these areas.

Improper waste management practices have a direct impact on human health, be it from indiscriminate dumping, uncontrolled burning and improper incineration. The public health impacts are primarily determined by the overall waste management strategy adopted either locally, regionally or nationally. Any waste management system adopted therefore, could have an impact on health directly, leading to potential adverse and/or beneficial health impacts.

References

1. Mahoney DB, Moy GC. Food borne hazards of particular concern to children. In: Pronczuk de Garbino J. Editor. Children’s health and the environment, a global perspective: a resource manual for the health sector. Chapter 11, 2005.

2. UN-Habitat 2010. Solid waste management in the world's cities. Water and Sanitation in the World’s cities

3. UNEP. 2007. Environmental Pollution and Impacts on Public Health: Implications of the Dandora Municipal Dumping Site in Nairobi.

4. World Health Organisation. Children’s Health and the Environment: A global Perspective: a resource manual for the health sector. Pronczuk de Garbino J, Editor 2005.

5. Karim AH. Environmental protection, public health and human rights: an integrated assessment. A report for science and human rights program; American Association for the advancement of Science. 2003.

6. Agency for Toxic Products and Disease Registry (ATSDR). Toxicological Profile for Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs). US Department of Health and Human Services; Public Health Services.1998.

7. Agency for Toxic Products and Disease Registry (ATSDR). Toxicological Profile for Chlorinated Dibenzo-p-Dioxins. US Department of Health and Human Services; Public Health Services.