the relationship between air pollution and mortality has been well established in national and in... more the relationship between air pollution and mortality has been well established in national and international scientific literature. This study reports the results of the EpiAir Project relative to the effect of air pollution on mortality in 10 Italian cities during 2001-2005. The association between particulate matter (PM10) and gases (nitrogen dioxide, NO2, and ozone, O3), and all natural mortality, as well as cardiac, cerebrovascular and respiratory mortality, is presented. Specific issues have been investigated, such as the latency of the air pollution-mortality effects and the identification of individual demographic characteristics and clinical conditions that result in greater susceptibility to the effects of particulate matter. the study population consisted of 276,205 subjects aged 35+ years old, resident in one of the 10 Italian cities studied, which died in the city between 2001-2005. For each subject, information was collected on cause of death, location of death, demographical variables and hospital discharge diagnoses in the previous 2-year period. The statistical analysis was adjusted for the relevant temporal and meteorological factors using the case-crossover approach. The results for ozone are limited to the warm semester (April through September). An analysis of the association between air pollution and mortality was conducted for each city, and the city-specific estimates were meta-analyzed on a second level to obtain a pooled result, and reported inter-city heterogeneity. a short-term effect of PM10 on mortality has been detected for all the groups of causes considered, with latencies ranging from lag 0 for cerebrovascular mortality to lag 0-3 for respiratory mortality. The association between NO2 and mortality displays strong and similar effects for all death causes, with prolonged effects (lag 0-5) for all groups of causes. The results for O3 are similar to those found for NO2, with prolonged latency (lag 0-5) for all causes of death with the exception of cerebrovascular mortality, for which a delayed effect (lag 3-5) was identified. Individual susceptibility factors of the PM10-natural mortality association include age, as elderly subjects are especially vulnerable to the effects of particles. the main results of the study suggest that the air pollution originated by vehicular traffic is the most relevant environmental problem in Italian cities from a public health viewpoint.
this study aims at presenting the results from the Italian EpiaAir2 Project on the short-term eff... more this study aims at presenting the results from the Italian EpiaAir2 Project on the short-term effects of air pollution on adult population (35+ years old) in 25 Italian cities. the short-term effects of air pollution on resident people died in their city were analysed adopting the time series approach. The association between increases in 10µg/m(3) in PM10, PM2.5, NO2 and O3 air concentration and natural, cardiac, cerebrovascular and respiratory mortality was studied. City-specific Poisson models were fitted to estimate the association of daily concentrations of pollutants with daily counts of deaths. The analysis took into account temporal and meteorological factors to control for potential confounding effect. Pooled estimates have been derived from random effects meta-analysis, evaluating the presence of heterogeneity in the city specific results. it was analysed 422,723 deaths in the 25 cities of the project among people aged 35 years or more, resident in each city during the per...
e&p anno 37 (4-5) luglio-ottobre 2013 Rassegne e Articoli OBIETTIVO: costruzione di indicatori am... more e&p anno 37 (4-5) luglio-ottobre 2013 Rassegne e Articoli OBIETTIVO: costruzione di indicatori ambientali di inquinamento aerodiffuso per finalità di sorveglianza epidemiologica in 25 città italiane per il progetto EpiAir2 (2006-2010) e presentazione dei dati di dieci anni di sorveglianza in 10 città italiane (2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006)(2007)(2008)(2009)(2010). DISEGNO: sono stati raccolti dati di particolato (nelle frazioni PM 10 e PM 2.5 ), biossido di azoto (NO 2 ) e ozono (O 3 ), considerati fattori di rischio per la salute. I dati meteorologici considerati come confondenti nell'analisi dell'effetto degli inquinanti sono stati: temperatura, umidità relativa (e la variabile derivata "temperatura apparente") e pressione barometrica. I criteri per la selezione delle stazioni di monitoraggio e i metodi di calcolo per la costruzione di indicatori ambientali a partire dalle serie giornaliere disponibili sono stati scelti in continuità con la precedente edizione di EpiAir. Per tutte le città, è stata verificata l'omogeneità dei dati selezionati nel rappresentare l'esposizione delle popolazioni. SETTING E PARTECIPANTI: il progetto EpiAir2 coinvolge per gli anni 2006-2010 le città di Milano, Mestre-Venezia, Torino, Bologna, Firenze, Pisa, Roma, Taranto, Cagliari e Palermo, già presenti nello studio EpiAir. A questo elenco vanno aggiunte le città di Treviso, RISULTATI: nel periodo considerato è stato osservato un decremento delle concentrazioni di particolato nella maggior parte delle città in analisi, mentre non si può giungere a conclusioni così nette per NO 2 e ozono. L'analisi dell'andamento temporale degli indicatori ha evidenziato valori medi annuali di PM 10 superiori ai 40 µg/m 3 in alcune città della Pianura Padana, e valori medi annuali di NO 2 costantemente superiori ai 40 µg/m 3 nelle città di Trieste, Milano, Padova, Torino, Modena, Bologna, Roma e Napoli. CONCLUSIONE: l'ampliamento del progetto EpiAir, con l'inclusione di ulteriori 13 città, ha permesso di evidenziare peculiarità legate alle differenti aree geografiche in studio e numerose situazioni di criticità con superamenti dei valori di concentrazione limite fissati dalla legislazione corrente. I risultati dello studio EpiAir2 confermano la necessità di un sistema di sorveglianza dell'inquinamento aerodiffuso nei centri urbani e industriali al fine di ottenere stime affidabili dell'esposizione della popolazione residente e di monitorarne l'andamento nel tempo. Parole chiave: inquinamento atmosferico, valutazione dell'esposizione, sorveglianza epidemiologica Epidemiol Prev 2013; 37 (4-5): 209-219 WWW.EPIPREV.IT EpiAir2 Cosa si sapeva già I Le città italiane mostrano livelli di inquinamento atmosferico elevati se confrontati con il resto d'Europa, in particolare se si considera la Pianura Padana. I E' necessario un sistema di sorveglianza sanitaria per monitorare gli effetti sulla salute della popolazione. Cosa si aggiunge di nuovo I Lo studio evidenzia un decremento generale dei livelli del particolato nelle città italiane nel decennio 2001-2010, e una tendenza al decremento dell'NO 2 . I C'è la necessità di applicare disegni di studio alternativi per la stima dell'esposizione in aree eterogenee (come quelle portuali) per valutare correttamente il rischio per la salute. Corrispondenza Martina Gandini martina.gandini@ arpa.piemonte.it Epidemiol Prev 2013; 37(4-5):209-219 e&p anno 37 (4-5) luglio-ottobre 2013
this study aims at presenting the results from the Italian EpiaAir2 Project on the short-term eff... more this study aims at presenting the results from the Italian EpiaAir2 Project on the short-term effects of air pollution on adult population (35+ years old) in 25 Italian cities. the short-term effects of air pollution on resident people died in their city were analysed adopting the time series approach. The association between increases in 10µg/m(3) in PM10, PM2.5, NO2 and O3 air concentration and natural, cardiac, cerebrovascular and respiratory mortality was studied. City-specific Poisson models were fitted to estimate the association of daily concentrations of pollutants with daily counts of deaths. The analysis took into account temporal and meteorological factors to control for potential confounding effect. Pooled estimates have been derived from random effects meta-analysis, evaluating the presence of heterogeneity in the city specific results. it was analysed 422,723 deaths in the 25 cities of the project among people aged 35 years or more, resident in each city during the per...
While several studies have reported associations of daily exposures to PM2.5 (particles less than... more While several studies have reported associations of daily exposures to PM2.5 (particles less than 2.5 µm) with mortality, few studies have examined the impact of its constituents such as black carbon (BC), which is also a significant contributor to global climate change. We assessed the association between daily concentrations of BC and total, cardiovascular and respiratory mortality in two southern Mediterranean cities. Daily averages of BC were collected for 2 years in Barcelona, Spain and Athens, Greece. We used case-crossover analysis and examined single and cumulative lags up to 3 days. We observed associations between BC and all mortality measures. For a 3-day moving average, cardiovascular mortality increased by 4.5% (95% CI 0.7 to 8.5) and 2.0% (95% CI 0 to 4.0) for an interquartile change in BC in Athens and Barcelona, respectively. Considerably higher effects for respiratory mortality and for those above age 65 were observed. In addition, BC exhibited much greater toxicity...
to evaluate the relationship between air pollution and hospital admissions in 25 Italian cities t... more to evaluate the relationship between air pollution and hospital admissions in 25 Italian cities that took part in the EpiAir (Epidemiological surveillance of air pollution effects among Italian cities) project. study of time series with case-crossover methodology, with adjustment for meteorological and time-dependent variables. The association air pollution hospitalisation was analyzed in each of the 25 cities involved in the study; the overall estimates of effect were obtained subsequently by means of a meta-analysis. The pollutants considered were PM10, PM2.5 (in 13 cities only), NO2 and ozone (O3); this last pollutant restricted to the summer season (April-September). the study has analyzed 2,246,448 urgent hospital admissions for non-accidental diseases in 25 Italian cities during the period 2006- 2010; 10 out of 25 cities took part also in the first phase of the project (2001-2005). urgent hospital admissions for cardiac, cerebrovascular and respiratory diseases, for all age gr...
The SESPIR Project (Epidemiological Surveillance of Health Status of Resident Population Around t... more The SESPIR Project (Epidemiological Surveillance of Health Status of Resident Population Around the Waste Treatment Plants) assessed the impact on health of residents nearby incinerators, landfills and mechanical biological treatment plants in five Italian regions (Emilia-Romagna, Piedmont, Lazio, Campania, and Sicily). The assessment procedure took into account the available knowledge on health effects of waste disposal facilities. Analyses were related to three different scenarios: a Baseline scenario, referred to plants active in 2008-2009; the regional future scenario, with plants expected in the waste regional plans; a virtuous scenario (Green 2020), based on a policy management of municipal solid waste (MSW) through the reduction of production and an intense recovery policy. Facing with a total population of around 24 million for the 5 regions, the residents nearby the plants were more than 380,000 people at Baseline. Such a population is reduced to approximately 330.000 inhab...
The SESPIR Project (Epidemiological Surveillance of Health Status of Resident Population Around t... more The SESPIR Project (Epidemiological Surveillance of Health Status of Resident Population Around the Waste Treatment Plants) assessed the impact on health of residents nearby incinerators, landfills and mechanical biological treatment plants in five Italian regions (Emilia-Romagna, Piedmont, Lazio, Campania, and Sicily). The assessment procedure took into account the available knowledge on health effects of waste disposal facilities. Analyses were related to three different scenarios: a Baseline scenario, referred to plants active in 2008-2009; the regional future scenario, with plants expected in the waste regional plans; a virtuous scenario (Green 2020), based on a policy management of municipal solid waste (MSW) through the reduction of production and an intense recovery policy. Facing with a total population of around 24 million for the 5 regions, the residents nearby the plants were more than 380,000 people at Baseline. Such a population is reduced to approximately 330.000 inhab...
Protecting children's health from the effects of environmental contamination is a public heal... more Protecting children's health from the effects of environmental contamination is a public health priority. In recent years, particular care has been devoted in Italy to the study of the relationship between environmental pollutants and health during infancy. The SENTIERI Project has called attention to increases in infant mortality in National Priority Contaminated Sites (NPCSs). SENTIERI KIDS provides a blueprint for the establishment of a task force charged with establishing multi and inter-disciplinary cooperation between central and regional institutions on the subject of children's health in contaminated sites. SENTIERI KIDS introduces a multiple outcome analytical model based on updated health outcomes (mortality, cancer incidence, hospital discharges) in order to establish a permanent observation system to monitor the state of health of infants residing in contaminated areas. This will pave the way for more in-depth epidemiological enquiries on an individual basis, and...
Background: Epidemiological studies have provided evidence that exposure to vehicular traffic inc... more Background: Epidemiological studies have provided evidence that exposure to vehicular traffic increases the prevalence of respiratory symptoms and may exacerbate pre-existing asthma in children. Self-reported exposure to road traffic has been questioned as a reliable measurement of exposure to air pollutants. The aim of this study was to investigate whether there were specific effects of cars and trucks traffic on current asthma symptoms (i.e. wheezing) and cough or phlegm, and to examine the validity of self-reported traffic exposure.
Occupational and environmental medicine, Jan 17, 2015
An association between occurrence of wildfires and mortality in the exposed population has been o... more An association between occurrence of wildfires and mortality in the exposed population has been observed in several studies with controversial results for cause-specific mortality. In the Mediterranean area, forest fires usually occur during spring-summer, they overlap with Saharan outbreaks, are associated with increased temperature and their health effects are probably due to an increase in particulate matter. We analysed the effects of wildfires and particulate matter (PM10) on mortality in 10 southern European cities in Spain, France, Italy and Greece (2003-2010), using satellite data for exposure assessment and Poisson regression models, simulating a case-crossover approach. We found that smoky days were associated with increased cardiovascular mortality (lag 0-5, 6.29%, 95% CIs 1.00 to 11.85). When the effect of PM10 (per 10 µg/m(3)) was evaluated, there was an increase in natural mortality (0.49%), cardiovascular mortality (0.65%) and respiratory mortality (2.13%) on smoke-fr...
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2014
Avoiding or minimizing potential environmental impact is the driving idea behind protecting a pop... more Avoiding or minimizing potential environmental impact is the driving idea behind protecting a population's health via Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) and Strategic Environmental Assessments (SEAs). However, both are often carried out without any systematic approach. This paper describes the findings of a review of HIA, EIA and SEA experiences carried out by the authors, who act as institutional competent subjects at OPEN ACCESS Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2014, 11 12684 the national and regional levels in Italy. The analysis of how health is tackled in EIA and SEA procedures could support the definition of a protocol for the integration of HIA with EIA and SEA. Although EIA and SEA approaches include the aim of protecting health, significant technical and methodological gaps are present when assessing health systematically, and their basic principles regarding assessment are unsatisfactory for promoting and addressing healthcare concepts stated by the WHO. HIA is still poorly integrated into the decision-making process, screening and monitoring phases are only occasionally implemented, and operational details are not well-defined. The collaborative approach of institutions involved in environment and health is a core element in a systematic advancement toward supporting effective decisions and effective protection of the environment and health. At the Italian national level, the definition of guidelines and tools for HIA, also in relation with EIA and SEA, is of great interest.
Background: Although a number of studies have found an association between aircraft noise and hyp... more Background: Although a number of studies have found an association between aircraft noise and hypertension,
Background: Epidemiological studies have provided evidence that exposure to vehicular traffic inc... more Background: Epidemiological studies have provided evidence that exposure to vehicular traffic increases the prevalence of respiratory symptoms and may exacerbate pre-existing asthma in children. Self-reported exposure to road traffic has been questioned as a reliable measurement of exposure to air pollutants. The aim of this study was to investigate whether there were specific effects of cars and trucks traffic on current asthma symptoms (i.e. wheezing) and cough or phlegm, and to examine the validity of self-reported traffic exposure.
Within the framework of the APHEA2 (Air Pollution on Health: a European Approach) project, the ef... more Within the framework of the APHEA2 (Air Pollution on Health: a European Approach) project, the effects of ambient particles on mortality among persons o65 yrs were investigated.
the relationship between air pollution and mortality has been well established in national and in... more the relationship between air pollution and mortality has been well established in national and international scientific literature. This study reports the results of the EpiAir Project relative to the effect of air pollution on mortality in 10 Italian cities during 2001-2005. The association between particulate matter (PM10) and gases (nitrogen dioxide, NO2, and ozone, O3), and all natural mortality, as well as cardiac, cerebrovascular and respiratory mortality, is presented. Specific issues have been investigated, such as the latency of the air pollution-mortality effects and the identification of individual demographic characteristics and clinical conditions that result in greater susceptibility to the effects of particulate matter. the study population consisted of 276,205 subjects aged 35+ years old, resident in one of the 10 Italian cities studied, which died in the city between 2001-2005. For each subject, information was collected on cause of death, location of death, demographical variables and hospital discharge diagnoses in the previous 2-year period. The statistical analysis was adjusted for the relevant temporal and meteorological factors using the case-crossover approach. The results for ozone are limited to the warm semester (April through September). An analysis of the association between air pollution and mortality was conducted for each city, and the city-specific estimates were meta-analyzed on a second level to obtain a pooled result, and reported inter-city heterogeneity. a short-term effect of PM10 on mortality has been detected for all the groups of causes considered, with latencies ranging from lag 0 for cerebrovascular mortality to lag 0-3 for respiratory mortality. The association between NO2 and mortality displays strong and similar effects for all death causes, with prolonged effects (lag 0-5) for all groups of causes. The results for O3 are similar to those found for NO2, with prolonged latency (lag 0-5) for all causes of death with the exception of cerebrovascular mortality, for which a delayed effect (lag 3-5) was identified. Individual susceptibility factors of the PM10-natural mortality association include age, as elderly subjects are especially vulnerable to the effects of particles. the main results of the study suggest that the air pollution originated by vehicular traffic is the most relevant environmental problem in Italian cities from a public health viewpoint.
this study aims at presenting the results from the Italian EpiaAir2 Project on the short-term eff... more this study aims at presenting the results from the Italian EpiaAir2 Project on the short-term effects of air pollution on adult population (35+ years old) in 25 Italian cities. the short-term effects of air pollution on resident people died in their city were analysed adopting the time series approach. The association between increases in 10µg/m(3) in PM10, PM2.5, NO2 and O3 air concentration and natural, cardiac, cerebrovascular and respiratory mortality was studied. City-specific Poisson models were fitted to estimate the association of daily concentrations of pollutants with daily counts of deaths. The analysis took into account temporal and meteorological factors to control for potential confounding effect. Pooled estimates have been derived from random effects meta-analysis, evaluating the presence of heterogeneity in the city specific results. it was analysed 422,723 deaths in the 25 cities of the project among people aged 35 years or more, resident in each city during the per...
e&p anno 37 (4-5) luglio-ottobre 2013 Rassegne e Articoli OBIETTIVO: costruzione di indicatori am... more e&p anno 37 (4-5) luglio-ottobre 2013 Rassegne e Articoli OBIETTIVO: costruzione di indicatori ambientali di inquinamento aerodiffuso per finalità di sorveglianza epidemiologica in 25 città italiane per il progetto EpiAir2 (2006-2010) e presentazione dei dati di dieci anni di sorveglianza in 10 città italiane (2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006)(2007)(2008)(2009)(2010). DISEGNO: sono stati raccolti dati di particolato (nelle frazioni PM 10 e PM 2.5 ), biossido di azoto (NO 2 ) e ozono (O 3 ), considerati fattori di rischio per la salute. I dati meteorologici considerati come confondenti nell'analisi dell'effetto degli inquinanti sono stati: temperatura, umidità relativa (e la variabile derivata "temperatura apparente") e pressione barometrica. I criteri per la selezione delle stazioni di monitoraggio e i metodi di calcolo per la costruzione di indicatori ambientali a partire dalle serie giornaliere disponibili sono stati scelti in continuità con la precedente edizione di EpiAir. Per tutte le città, è stata verificata l'omogeneità dei dati selezionati nel rappresentare l'esposizione delle popolazioni. SETTING E PARTECIPANTI: il progetto EpiAir2 coinvolge per gli anni 2006-2010 le città di Milano, Mestre-Venezia, Torino, Bologna, Firenze, Pisa, Roma, Taranto, Cagliari e Palermo, già presenti nello studio EpiAir. A questo elenco vanno aggiunte le città di Treviso, RISULTATI: nel periodo considerato è stato osservato un decremento delle concentrazioni di particolato nella maggior parte delle città in analisi, mentre non si può giungere a conclusioni così nette per NO 2 e ozono. L'analisi dell'andamento temporale degli indicatori ha evidenziato valori medi annuali di PM 10 superiori ai 40 µg/m 3 in alcune città della Pianura Padana, e valori medi annuali di NO 2 costantemente superiori ai 40 µg/m 3 nelle città di Trieste, Milano, Padova, Torino, Modena, Bologna, Roma e Napoli. CONCLUSIONE: l'ampliamento del progetto EpiAir, con l'inclusione di ulteriori 13 città, ha permesso di evidenziare peculiarità legate alle differenti aree geografiche in studio e numerose situazioni di criticità con superamenti dei valori di concentrazione limite fissati dalla legislazione corrente. I risultati dello studio EpiAir2 confermano la necessità di un sistema di sorveglianza dell'inquinamento aerodiffuso nei centri urbani e industriali al fine di ottenere stime affidabili dell'esposizione della popolazione residente e di monitorarne l'andamento nel tempo. Parole chiave: inquinamento atmosferico, valutazione dell'esposizione, sorveglianza epidemiologica Epidemiol Prev 2013; 37 (4-5): 209-219 WWW.EPIPREV.IT EpiAir2 Cosa si sapeva già I Le città italiane mostrano livelli di inquinamento atmosferico elevati se confrontati con il resto d'Europa, in particolare se si considera la Pianura Padana. I E' necessario un sistema di sorveglianza sanitaria per monitorare gli effetti sulla salute della popolazione. Cosa si aggiunge di nuovo I Lo studio evidenzia un decremento generale dei livelli del particolato nelle città italiane nel decennio 2001-2010, e una tendenza al decremento dell'NO 2 . I C'è la necessità di applicare disegni di studio alternativi per la stima dell'esposizione in aree eterogenee (come quelle portuali) per valutare correttamente il rischio per la salute. Corrispondenza Martina Gandini martina.gandini@ arpa.piemonte.it Epidemiol Prev 2013; 37(4-5):209-219 e&p anno 37 (4-5) luglio-ottobre 2013
this study aims at presenting the results from the Italian EpiaAir2 Project on the short-term eff... more this study aims at presenting the results from the Italian EpiaAir2 Project on the short-term effects of air pollution on adult population (35+ years old) in 25 Italian cities. the short-term effects of air pollution on resident people died in their city were analysed adopting the time series approach. The association between increases in 10µg/m(3) in PM10, PM2.5, NO2 and O3 air concentration and natural, cardiac, cerebrovascular and respiratory mortality was studied. City-specific Poisson models were fitted to estimate the association of daily concentrations of pollutants with daily counts of deaths. The analysis took into account temporal and meteorological factors to control for potential confounding effect. Pooled estimates have been derived from random effects meta-analysis, evaluating the presence of heterogeneity in the city specific results. it was analysed 422,723 deaths in the 25 cities of the project among people aged 35 years or more, resident in each city during the per...
While several studies have reported associations of daily exposures to PM2.5 (particles less than... more While several studies have reported associations of daily exposures to PM2.5 (particles less than 2.5 µm) with mortality, few studies have examined the impact of its constituents such as black carbon (BC), which is also a significant contributor to global climate change. We assessed the association between daily concentrations of BC and total, cardiovascular and respiratory mortality in two southern Mediterranean cities. Daily averages of BC were collected for 2 years in Barcelona, Spain and Athens, Greece. We used case-crossover analysis and examined single and cumulative lags up to 3 days. We observed associations between BC and all mortality measures. For a 3-day moving average, cardiovascular mortality increased by 4.5% (95% CI 0.7 to 8.5) and 2.0% (95% CI 0 to 4.0) for an interquartile change in BC in Athens and Barcelona, respectively. Considerably higher effects for respiratory mortality and for those above age 65 were observed. In addition, BC exhibited much greater toxicity...
to evaluate the relationship between air pollution and hospital admissions in 25 Italian cities t... more to evaluate the relationship between air pollution and hospital admissions in 25 Italian cities that took part in the EpiAir (Epidemiological surveillance of air pollution effects among Italian cities) project. study of time series with case-crossover methodology, with adjustment for meteorological and time-dependent variables. The association air pollution hospitalisation was analyzed in each of the 25 cities involved in the study; the overall estimates of effect were obtained subsequently by means of a meta-analysis. The pollutants considered were PM10, PM2.5 (in 13 cities only), NO2 and ozone (O3); this last pollutant restricted to the summer season (April-September). the study has analyzed 2,246,448 urgent hospital admissions for non-accidental diseases in 25 Italian cities during the period 2006- 2010; 10 out of 25 cities took part also in the first phase of the project (2001-2005). urgent hospital admissions for cardiac, cerebrovascular and respiratory diseases, for all age gr...
The SESPIR Project (Epidemiological Surveillance of Health Status of Resident Population Around t... more The SESPIR Project (Epidemiological Surveillance of Health Status of Resident Population Around the Waste Treatment Plants) assessed the impact on health of residents nearby incinerators, landfills and mechanical biological treatment plants in five Italian regions (Emilia-Romagna, Piedmont, Lazio, Campania, and Sicily). The assessment procedure took into account the available knowledge on health effects of waste disposal facilities. Analyses were related to three different scenarios: a Baseline scenario, referred to plants active in 2008-2009; the regional future scenario, with plants expected in the waste regional plans; a virtuous scenario (Green 2020), based on a policy management of municipal solid waste (MSW) through the reduction of production and an intense recovery policy. Facing with a total population of around 24 million for the 5 regions, the residents nearby the plants were more than 380,000 people at Baseline. Such a population is reduced to approximately 330.000 inhab...
The SESPIR Project (Epidemiological Surveillance of Health Status of Resident Population Around t... more The SESPIR Project (Epidemiological Surveillance of Health Status of Resident Population Around the Waste Treatment Plants) assessed the impact on health of residents nearby incinerators, landfills and mechanical biological treatment plants in five Italian regions (Emilia-Romagna, Piedmont, Lazio, Campania, and Sicily). The assessment procedure took into account the available knowledge on health effects of waste disposal facilities. Analyses were related to three different scenarios: a Baseline scenario, referred to plants active in 2008-2009; the regional future scenario, with plants expected in the waste regional plans; a virtuous scenario (Green 2020), based on a policy management of municipal solid waste (MSW) through the reduction of production and an intense recovery policy. Facing with a total population of around 24 million for the 5 regions, the residents nearby the plants were more than 380,000 people at Baseline. Such a population is reduced to approximately 330.000 inhab...
Protecting children's health from the effects of environmental contamination is a public heal... more Protecting children's health from the effects of environmental contamination is a public health priority. In recent years, particular care has been devoted in Italy to the study of the relationship between environmental pollutants and health during infancy. The SENTIERI Project has called attention to increases in infant mortality in National Priority Contaminated Sites (NPCSs). SENTIERI KIDS provides a blueprint for the establishment of a task force charged with establishing multi and inter-disciplinary cooperation between central and regional institutions on the subject of children's health in contaminated sites. SENTIERI KIDS introduces a multiple outcome analytical model based on updated health outcomes (mortality, cancer incidence, hospital discharges) in order to establish a permanent observation system to monitor the state of health of infants residing in contaminated areas. This will pave the way for more in-depth epidemiological enquiries on an individual basis, and...
Background: Epidemiological studies have provided evidence that exposure to vehicular traffic inc... more Background: Epidemiological studies have provided evidence that exposure to vehicular traffic increases the prevalence of respiratory symptoms and may exacerbate pre-existing asthma in children. Self-reported exposure to road traffic has been questioned as a reliable measurement of exposure to air pollutants. The aim of this study was to investigate whether there were specific effects of cars and trucks traffic on current asthma symptoms (i.e. wheezing) and cough or phlegm, and to examine the validity of self-reported traffic exposure.
Occupational and environmental medicine, Jan 17, 2015
An association between occurrence of wildfires and mortality in the exposed population has been o... more An association between occurrence of wildfires and mortality in the exposed population has been observed in several studies with controversial results for cause-specific mortality. In the Mediterranean area, forest fires usually occur during spring-summer, they overlap with Saharan outbreaks, are associated with increased temperature and their health effects are probably due to an increase in particulate matter. We analysed the effects of wildfires and particulate matter (PM10) on mortality in 10 southern European cities in Spain, France, Italy and Greece (2003-2010), using satellite data for exposure assessment and Poisson regression models, simulating a case-crossover approach. We found that smoky days were associated with increased cardiovascular mortality (lag 0-5, 6.29%, 95% CIs 1.00 to 11.85). When the effect of PM10 (per 10 µg/m(3)) was evaluated, there was an increase in natural mortality (0.49%), cardiovascular mortality (0.65%) and respiratory mortality (2.13%) on smoke-fr...
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2014
Avoiding or minimizing potential environmental impact is the driving idea behind protecting a pop... more Avoiding or minimizing potential environmental impact is the driving idea behind protecting a population's health via Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) and Strategic Environmental Assessments (SEAs). However, both are often carried out without any systematic approach. This paper describes the findings of a review of HIA, EIA and SEA experiences carried out by the authors, who act as institutional competent subjects at OPEN ACCESS Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2014, 11 12684 the national and regional levels in Italy. The analysis of how health is tackled in EIA and SEA procedures could support the definition of a protocol for the integration of HIA with EIA and SEA. Although EIA and SEA approaches include the aim of protecting health, significant technical and methodological gaps are present when assessing health systematically, and their basic principles regarding assessment are unsatisfactory for promoting and addressing healthcare concepts stated by the WHO. HIA is still poorly integrated into the decision-making process, screening and monitoring phases are only occasionally implemented, and operational details are not well-defined. The collaborative approach of institutions involved in environment and health is a core element in a systematic advancement toward supporting effective decisions and effective protection of the environment and health. At the Italian national level, the definition of guidelines and tools for HIA, also in relation with EIA and SEA, is of great interest.
Background: Although a number of studies have found an association between aircraft noise and hyp... more Background: Although a number of studies have found an association between aircraft noise and hypertension,
Background: Epidemiological studies have provided evidence that exposure to vehicular traffic inc... more Background: Epidemiological studies have provided evidence that exposure to vehicular traffic increases the prevalence of respiratory symptoms and may exacerbate pre-existing asthma in children. Self-reported exposure to road traffic has been questioned as a reliable measurement of exposure to air pollutants. The aim of this study was to investigate whether there were specific effects of cars and trucks traffic on current asthma symptoms (i.e. wheezing) and cough or phlegm, and to examine the validity of self-reported traffic exposure.
Within the framework of the APHEA2 (Air Pollution on Health: a European Approach) project, the ef... more Within the framework of the APHEA2 (Air Pollution on Health: a European Approach) project, the effects of ambient particles on mortality among persons o65 yrs were investigated.
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