Planning a decisional assessment tool from a health and environment integrated framework

In the aim of a sustainable management of environment and health, decision-makers, particularly territorial planning authorities, need appropriate information and tools in order to take the best decisions in relation to the investigated problems. Research to develop such tools must follow a multidisciplinary approach, and the main areas involved are related to biosciences (i.e. medicine, biology, environmental sciences, epidemiology, bio-statistics) and computer sciences. The project included three main research areas: · Public Health: state of health of the population living within a circle of 4 km radius around the incinerator, based on the existing health information system and an ad-hoc survey on respiratory symptoms and risk perception. · Environment: investigation of the main pollutants in water and soils that are potentially produced by an incinerator. The soils have been characterized for all the main physical and chemical properties. The main contaminants investigated were heavy metals, PAH and Dioxins. · Geo-referencing: all the environmental and health data collected were included in thematic maps using GPS and GIS resources. A survey of the health status of the population (e.g. mortality, morbidity, reproductive outcomes and other health indicators) of the time prior to possible contamination is necessary, if environmental data and health information are to be integrated. Such information is relevant for the setting up of a monitoring system on potential impacts, including also data on socio-economic features, life-styles, etc.