I have asked the Health Research Board – HRB – to provide a study, utilising appropriate research expertise in health and environmental sciences, which will contain an objective, independent and expert analysis of all available information regarding the likely effects of landfill and thermal treatment, especially incineration, activities on public health and the environment. The HRB study will encompass, but will not be limited to, an evaluation of recorded impacts on public health and the environment from emissions from old landfills and thermal treatment technologies, that is, facilities and technologies in operation prior to the imposition of modern operational requirements and emission standards, and an assessment of the risk posed by emissions from modern landfills and thermal treatment technologies, that is, operating to current EU standards, to public health and the environment. Accordingly, I anticipate that this work will include an assessment of the findings of the Imperial College study published in August 2001.
I expect a study team to be appointed shortly by the HRB and the study to conclude by end February 2002. A report will be published shortly thereafter. The need for any further dedicated research into the possible impact of landfill sites on public health can be evaluated in light of that report. While the UK study found small excess risks of congenital anomalies in populations living near landfill sites, it identified no causal mechanisms to explain these findings and noted that alternative explanations include statistical factors or other variables which cannot be readily taken into account in ecological studies. It recommended further studies to help differentiate between the various possibilities.