INTEGRATED HEALTH RISK ASSESSMENT AND WASTE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM OF SAGGIAN AND LAKHODAIR LANDFILL SITE, LAHORE

Abstract

Solid waste has become one of the most concerned issues in the world. Pakistan is facing immense pressure to deal with the solid waste every year as the amount of waste produced surpasses 77000 tons per day.It is one of the biggest challenges to manage the solid waste in order to control pollution and thereby to ensure the healthy life of all the human beings.The first and the foremost priority of the waste managers and of the incognizant public is to dump the waste in an open space unconscious of the severity of the harm it could cause. Open dumping is extremely hazardous and can cause life threatening diseases therefore landfills are considered as a better choice to manage the waste properly, however landfills still pose a threat to the health of the human beings and also cause serious health issues. Unmanaged and uncontrolled landfills let the leachate that contains high amount of harmful chemicals and heavy metals seep into the ground which then mixes with the groundwater; it also releases harmful gases in the environment which are later inhaled by the human beings.

This paper aims to assess some of the major health risks caused by the Saggian and Lakhodair landfill Sites, Lahore. For this purpose characterization of solid waste has been carried out at the Saggian and Lakhodair landfill sites to evaluate the physio chemical composition of the solid waste. Moreover, water samples were collected to valuate the amount of Total Dissolved Solids, Total Hardness, heavy metals, pH, and Turbidity, from the areas in the close proximity of the landfill sites for the health risk assessment and to check if the values are within the prescribed limits given by WHO and PSQCA. In addition to this vehicles that are used to load and unload the waste at the sites and hazardous chemicals released in the air were observed to assess the human health and environmental impacts. To overcome such risks an appropriate waste management system is over viewed.