The longitudinal biomonitoring of residents living near the waste incinerator of Turin: Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon metabolites after three years from the plant start-up.

The waste-to-energy (WTE) incinerator plant located in the Turin area (Italy) started to recover energy from the combustion of municipal solid waste in 2013. A health surveillance program was implemented to evaluate the potential health effects on the population living near the plant. This program included a longitudinal biomonitoring to evaluate temporal changes of some environmental pollutants, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), in residents living in areas near the Turin incinerator (exposed group, E) compared to those observed in subjects living far from the plant (not exposed group, NE).

Perceived Risk in the Population Living near the Turin Incinerator: Comparison between before and at Three Years of Operation.

When the Turin incinerator went into operation in 2013, it was accompanied by surveillance of health effects that included a human biomonitoring survey of 394 residents. They responded to items investigating their awareness of environmental and health issues and perception of environmental health risks. In this study, we compared the questionnaire responses before plant startup and at 3 years of operation.

Short-term effects on emergency room access or hospital admissions for cardio-respiratory diseases: methodology and results after three years of functioning of a waste-to-energy incinerator in Turin (Italy).

This study is part of the health surveillance system set up with the construction of a waste-to-energy (WTE) plant in Turin (Italy). Circulatory and respiratory diseases in emergency room (ER) accesses and first hospital admissions were considered. Main concerns of population living in the area near WTE were to know whether single and repeated peaks in emissions would correspond to adverse health effects.

[Diagnostic imaging procedures and prescribing appropriateness: are administrative data a proper instrument? An experience from Piedmont Region (Northern Italy)].

Objectives: to assess at population level if healthcare administrative data can be suitable to identify variability and determinants of the prescribing rates for some diagnostic imaging procedures at high-risk of inappropriateness.

Design: population-based observational study.

Setting And Participants: Piedmont Region (Northern Italy) adult population (>20 years) in year 2013.