Environmental health risks associated with indiscriminate dumping in Lekwa Local Municipality

Abstract

This paper presents the environmental health risks associated with indiscriminate dumping of solid waste in Lekwa Local Municipality. Structured observations were used to collect data from the identified waste dumping spots. The primary data collected involved the characterization of waste streams, estimation of distances between dumping spots, water sources, and the types of houses located within dumped areas. The results revealed that both hazardous and general waste streams are dumped in residential areas of Lekwa Local Municipality. The close proximities of the dumps to houses and water sources represented the potential exposure probabilities of environmental health to hazards generated by the waste streams. The relationship between the types of housing structures presents a socio-economic dimension of indiscriminate dumping and human behaviour. The study also observed a high presence of mixed materials in the waste streams, with high opportunities for developing a secondary resource economy in the study area. The probabilities of human exposure to the identified hazards through water, air and soil to these hazards via oral, dermal and skin routes highlight the high environmental health risk potential to the local and downstream communities.