Mortality in the district of Ghemme and Cavaglio d'Agogna, site of an urban waste landfill

Introduction: Aim this study is to assess anomalous mortality rates from 2002 to 2012, in the municipalities of Ghemme and Cavaglio d’Agogna where a landfill has been active. Before the opening of the landfill (1988), studies highlighted the presence of noxious substances, in the ground layers, and not in the groundwater. Goal of our research is to monitor the health levels of the population in an area, with attention to long/midterm effects. Materials and methods: We performed the analysis on data of the National Institute of Statistics death records, and produced indirect standardized rates (SMR) using the rates of Local Healthcare Agencies (ASL) of Novara and Vercelli as reference population. Results: We found various excesses in the population of the two municipalities, in particular for age 0-44 and congenital malformations but also for urogenital and gastrointestinal tumors that have been linked in letterature to housing in dump prossimity. Conclusions: Further analysis of morbidity and inferential studies will help to define the health status in the area. Such a study will possible help to reduce the greater risks and meet the demands of better public health policy