Environmental and Human Health Issues in Campania Region Italy

Waste generation rates continue to grow around the world, creating a need for more comprehensive waste management strategies to meet sustainability needs. Uncontrolled disposal generates complex and challenging situation that involves the entire population. In particular, the illegal dumping and burning of toxic waste in Campania (Italy) has caused immense environmental damage and an increase in cancer rate among the population. Different epidemiological studies were commissioned by the Ministry of Health to assess the magnitude of contamination under an illegal dump in Campania and to evaluate the population health impact. The data and other available evidence testify the dramatic situation in Caserta and Naples provinces about the severe impairment of the environmental conditions in several places and increase of cancer incidence. For this reason, the Campania region is known, such as Triangle of Death” and “Land of Fires” (LoF) (or Terra dei fuochi-TdF), as reported both in academic publications and the national press. This chapter is aimed to provide the findings regarding human health and environmental contamination in this region.

Keywords: Campania, Hazardous waste, Illegal waste dumping, Land of fire, Population health.