Estimating the Prevalence of Toxic Waste Sites in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

<p>Background</p><p>Exposure to heavy metals at contaminated industrial and mining sites, known also as hot spots, is a significant source of toxic exposure and adverse health outcomes in countries around the world. The Toxic Sites Identification Program (TSIP) developed by Pure Ea...

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Autores principales:	Russell Dowling, Jack Caravanos, Patrick Grigsby, Anthony Rivera, Bret Ericson, Yaw Amoyaw-Osei, Bennett Akuffo, Richard Fuller
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Ubiquity Press 2017
Materias:	contaminated sites pollution global burden of disease heavy metals field survey Toxic Sites Identification Program (TSIP) Infectious and parasitic diseases RC109-216 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/5b316f5d3653455e8b989b2f06b72d06
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:5b316f5d3653455e8b989b2f06b72d062021-12-02T04:02:28ZEstimating the Prevalence of Toxic Waste Sites in Low- and Middle-Income Countries2214-999610.1016/j.aogh.2016.07.008https://doaj.org/article/5b316f5d3653455e8b989b2f06b72d062017-03-01T00:00:00Zhttps://annalsofglobalhealth.org/articles/232https://doaj.org/toc/2214-9996<p>Background</p><p>Exposure to heavy metals at contaminated industrial and mining sites, known also as hot spots, is a significant source of toxic exposure and adverse health outcomes in countries around the world. The Toxic Sites Identification Program (TSIP) developed by Pure Earth, a New York–based nongovernmental organization, is the only systematic effort to catalogue contaminated sites globally. To date, TSIP has identified and catalogued 3282 sites in low- and middle-income countries. The TSIP methodology is not designed to survey all contaminated sites in a country. Rather sites are prioritized based on their perceived impact on human health, and only a limited number of the most highly hazardous sites are surveyed. The total number of contaminated sites globally and the fraction of contaminated sites captured by TSIP is not known.</p><p>Objective</p><p>To determine the TSIP site capture rate, the fraction of contaminated sites in a country catalogued by TSIP.</p><p>Methods</p><p>Ghana was selected for this analysis because it is a rapidly industrializing lower middle income country with a heterogeneous industrial base, a highly urban population (51%), and good public records systems. To develop an estimate of the fraction of sites in Ghana captured by TSIP, assessors targeted randomly selected geographic quadrats for comprehensive assessment using area and population statistics from the Ghana Statistical Service. Investigators physically walked all accessible streets in each quadrat to visually identify all sites. Visual identification was supplemented by field-based confirmation with portable x-ray fluorescence instruments to test soils for metals. To extrapolate from survey findings to develop a range of estimates for the entire country, the investigators used 2 methodologies: a “bottom-up” approach that first estimated the number of waste sites in each region and then summed these regional subtotals to develop a total national estimate; and a “top-down” method that estimated the total number of sites in Ghana and then allocated these sites to each region. Both methods used cluster random sampling principles.</p><p>Findings</p><p>The investigators identified 72 sites in the sampled quadrats. Extrapolating from these findings to the entire country, the first methodology estimated that there are 1561 sites contaminated by heavy metals in Ghana (confidence interval [CI]: 1134-1987), whereas the second estimated 1944 sites (CI: 812-3075). The estimated total number of contaminated sites in Ghana is thus 7-9 times the number of sites captured through TSIP. On a population basis, it was estimated that there are between 31 and 115 contaminated sites per million inhabitants in Ghana.</p><p>Conclusions</p>The findings of this study indicate that the TSIP methodology provides a sound statistical basis for policy formulation. The statistical approaches used in this study can be replicated in other countries to improve estimates of the prevalence of contaminated sites. This information provides important input to calculations of the global burden of disease attributable to hazardous exposures at contaminated sites.Russell DowlingJack CaravanosPatrick GrigsbyAnthony RiveraBret EricsonYaw Amoyaw-OseiBennett AkuffoRichard FullerUbiquity Pressarticlecontaminated sitespollutionglobal burden of diseaseheavy metalsfield surveyToxic Sites Identification Program (TSIP)Infectious and parasitic diseasesRC109-216Public aspects of medicineRA1-1270ENAnnals of Global Health, Vol 82, Iss 5, Pp 700-710 (2017)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	contaminated sites pollution global burden of disease heavy metals field survey Toxic Sites Identification Program (TSIP) Infectious and parasitic diseases RC109-216 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270
spellingShingle	contaminated sites pollution global burden of disease heavy metals field survey Toxic Sites Identification Program (TSIP) Infectious and parasitic diseases RC109-216 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 Russell Dowling Jack Caravanos Patrick Grigsby Anthony Rivera Bret Ericson Yaw Amoyaw-Osei Bennett Akuffo Richard Fuller Estimating the Prevalence of Toxic Waste Sites in Low- and Middle-Income Countries
description	<p>Background</p><p>Exposure to heavy metals at contaminated industrial and mining sites, known also as hot spots, is a significant source of toxic exposure and adverse health outcomes in countries around the world. The Toxic Sites Identification Program (TSIP) developed by Pure Earth, a New York–based nongovernmental organization, is the only systematic effort to catalogue contaminated sites globally. To date, TSIP has identified and catalogued 3282 sites in low- and middle-income countries. The TSIP methodology is not designed to survey all contaminated sites in a country. Rather sites are prioritized based on their perceived impact on human health, and only a limited number of the most highly hazardous sites are surveyed. The total number of contaminated sites globally and the fraction of contaminated sites captured by TSIP is not known.</p><p>Objective</p><p>To determine the TSIP site capture rate, the fraction of contaminated sites in a country catalogued by TSIP.</p><p>Methods</p><p>Ghana was selected for this analysis because it is a rapidly industrializing lower middle income country with a heterogeneous industrial base, a highly urban population (51%), and good public records systems. To develop an estimate of the fraction of sites in Ghana captured by TSIP, assessors targeted randomly selected geographic quadrats for comprehensive assessment using area and population statistics from the Ghana Statistical Service. Investigators physically walked all accessible streets in each quadrat to visually identify all sites. Visual identification was supplemented by field-based confirmation with portable x-ray fluorescence instruments to test soils for metals. To extrapolate from survey findings to develop a range of estimates for the entire country, the investigators used 2 methodologies: a “bottom-up” approach that first estimated the number of waste sites in each region and then summed these regional subtotals to develop a total national estimate; and a “top-down” method that estimated the total number of sites in Ghana and then allocated these sites to each region. Both methods used cluster random sampling principles.</p><p>Findings</p><p>The investigators identified 72 sites in the sampled quadrats. Extrapolating from these findings to the entire country, the first methodology estimated that there are 1561 sites contaminated by heavy metals in Ghana (confidence interval [CI]: 1134-1987), whereas the second estimated 1944 sites (CI: 812-3075). The estimated total number of contaminated sites in Ghana is thus 7-9 times the number of sites captured through TSIP. On a population basis, it was estimated that there are between 31 and 115 contaminated sites per million inhabitants in Ghana.</p><p>Conclusions</p>The findings of this study indicate that the TSIP methodology provides a sound statistical basis for policy formulation. The statistical approaches used in this study can be replicated in other countries to improve estimates of the prevalence of contaminated sites. This information provides important input to calculations of the global burden of disease attributable to hazardous exposures at contaminated sites.
format	article
author	Russell Dowling Jack Caravanos Patrick Grigsby Anthony Rivera Bret Ericson Yaw Amoyaw-Osei Bennett Akuffo Richard Fuller
author_facet	Russell Dowling Jack Caravanos Patrick Grigsby Anthony Rivera Bret Ericson Yaw Amoyaw-Osei Bennett Akuffo Richard Fuller
author_sort	Russell Dowling
title	Estimating the Prevalence of Toxic Waste Sites in Low- and Middle-Income Countries
title_short	Estimating the Prevalence of Toxic Waste Sites in Low- and Middle-Income Countries
title_full	Estimating the Prevalence of Toxic Waste Sites in Low- and Middle-Income Countries
title_fullStr	Estimating the Prevalence of Toxic Waste Sites in Low- and Middle-Income Countries
title_full_unstemmed	Estimating the Prevalence of Toxic Waste Sites in Low- and Middle-Income Countries
title_sort	estimating the prevalence of toxic waste sites in low- and middle-income countries
publisher	Ubiquity Press
publishDate	2017
url	https://doaj.org/article/5b316f5d3653455e8b989b2f06b72d06
work_keys_str_mv	AT russelldowling estimatingtheprevalenceoftoxicwastesitesinlowandmiddleincomecountries AT jackcaravanos estimatingtheprevalenceoftoxicwastesitesinlowandmiddleincomecountries AT patrickgrigsby estimatingtheprevalenceoftoxicwastesitesinlowandmiddleincomecountries AT anthonyrivera estimatingtheprevalenceoftoxicwastesitesinlowandmiddleincomecountries AT bretericson estimatingtheprevalenceoftoxicwastesitesinlowandmiddleincomecountries AT yawamoyawosei estimatingtheprevalenceoftoxicwastesitesinlowandmiddleincomecountries AT bennettakuffo estimatingtheprevalenceoftoxicwastesitesinlowandmiddleincomecountries AT richardfuller estimatingtheprevalenceoftoxicwastesitesinlowandmiddleincomecountries
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Estimating the Prevalence of Toxic Waste Sites in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

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