WHO
© Credits

Industrially contaminated sites

18 July 2023

Key facts

  • Around 2.8 million land sites potentially affected by pollution exist in the European Union (EU) alone and require environmental action. Removing and redeveloping these contaminated sites provides many opportunities for improved health and well-being.
  • According to the European Environment Agency (EEA), around 300 000 contaminated sites in Europe still require clean-up. Most of these sites host or have hosted industrial and commercial activities, storage of industrial and hazardous waste, military facilities, and waste treatment and disposal activities.
  • Contamination can affect soil, air, food and drinking-water, and people can be exposed directly through ingestion, inhalation, skin contact and dermal absorption of a host of noxious chemical agents.
  • Systematic assessments of the health impact of contaminated sites are unavailable, and the overall evidence is patchy. However, numerous local studies have found increased risks for various adverse health outcomes, including mortality, cancer, respiratory disease and congenital anomalies, among others.
  • Evidence shows that the remediation of contaminated sites can be an effective intervention to reduce exposure and prevent health risks. However, an exploration of European projects on the redevelopment of contaminated sites suggested that not even half of them involved the local health authorities.

Overview

Earlier industrialization and poor environmental management practices in the WHO European Region have left a legacy of millions of contaminated sites. Past and current economic activities have left, and continue to produce, local contamination of environmental media to such an extent that it might threaten the human health of resident populations.  

The hazards associated with contaminated sites are very heterogeneous, and often they are diffuse and difficult to recognize – especially when former site functions stopped long ago. Reliable exposure and health data are sparse, making safe use and redevelopment of these sites a local challenge.  

Health, environmental, economic, occupational and social aspects of contaminated sites are strongly interconnected, especially noting that disadvantaged population groups are more likely to live near polluted industrial areas. 

WHO Response 

The challenge of contaminated sites and health was identified as one of the future priorities for action at the 6th Ministerial Conference on Environment and Health in 2017. Responding to this commitment, the WHO European Centre for Environment and Health (WHO ECEH) aims to establish the evidence base on the health impacts of contaminated sites. It supports countries in their efforts to assess and mitigate contaminated site risks and related health effects through technical action and targeted policies. As part of this work, WHO ECEH:

  • reviews evidence on the health impacts of contaminated sites to generate knowledge on the associated health implications and develops methods and approaches for the quantification of health outcomes caused by contaminated sites;
  • supports Member States with technical advice on the assessment and remediation/redevelopment of contaminated sites;
  • generates evidence and practice examples on the redevelopment of contaminated sites and the related urban, societal and health benefits;
  • establishes training and capacity-building for national representatives on assessing and redeveloping sites with a history of contamination.