Addressing environmental health concerns near Trecatti landfill site, United Kingdom

Residents near the Trecatti landfill site located in South Wales, United Kingdom, expressed concern about odors and health effects they attributed to site emissions. The authors compared routinely collected, population-based, health data from potentially exposed electoral wards (i.e., United Kingdom electoral tracts) with data from both wards nearby, matched for socioeconomic deprivation scores, and with wards where residents were likely to attend the same hospital. Mortality rates were higher for all causes and neoplastic diseases (but not respiratory disease) in the exposed wards, but there was no change in rates after the site opened. Hospital data revealed a transient increase in admissions for asthma during the 3 yr that preceded the peak in odor complaints. The birth prevalence of congenital malformations was raised in the exposed wards, but the authors could not exclude a possible artifact resulting from differences in reporting practices between hospitals. The absence of environmental monitoring in the community during the period of public concern was a significant weakness of this study.