Triangle of death (Italy)
Encyclopedia
The triangle of death is an area in the Italian province of Campania
comprising the municipalities of Acerra
, Nola
and Marigliano
. The region has recently experienced a considerable increase in the number of deaths caused by cancer and other diseases that exceeds the Italian national average. The rise in the cancer-related mortality rate is thought to be mainly caused by environmental pollution from illegal waste disposal by the mafia-type criminal organization the Camorra
.
The term "The triangle of death" was first used in August 2004
by the international scientific medical review The Lancet
Oncology (edit by Elsevier
) who published a work by two researchers: Kathryn Senior and Alfredo Mazza (researchers in Pisa
's CNR), See http://www.epicentro.iss.it/focus/discariche/Rifiuti.pdf from website Centro Nazionale di Epidemiologia, Sorveglianza e Promozione della Salute called: Italian “Triangle of death” linked to waste crisis.
An estimated 550,000 people live in this area. The death rate for 100,000 inhabitants (the number of deaths every year, per 100,000 inhabitants) from liver cancer
is close to 34.5% for men and 20.8 % for women. On the contrary, the national average is 14%. The death rate for bladder cancer and CNS cancer is higher than in other European countries, although by a more modest increment.
Campania overall has lower than the average cancer mortality rate than Italy.
The high death rate is thought to be due to the illegal hazardous waste disposal from various sources, especially from the northern Italy industries, carried out by Camorra.
committed by World Health Organization
, Italian Istituto Superiore di Sanità
, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche
and Campania Region
was made; this one, has collected data on cancer death rate and congenital abnormalities in 196 municipalities around this area, between 1994 and 2002. In this statistical work, the confidence interval about the death reliability into Confidence interval
are showed; it uses Bayesian inference
.
The death rate for all the causes is shown below: it was significantly in excess
The authors found an elevated rate of congenital malformation, too. The work shows (in this areas with an elevated death rate or an elevated congenital malformations) almost always have got landfills or uncontrolled waste sites. From the other side, this works highlights the difficult to determinate the causality and the link between the elevated death and malformation rates and exposures related to the disposal of waste.
The presence of dangerous pollutants such as dioxin, particularly in the area of Acerra, is found, as well as illegal activities of waste disposal, even in the business of Montefibre, and as early as 1987, a decree of the Ministry of Environment called Acerra territory "at high risk of environmental crisis".
, whom systematically worked, for about 20 years, to the spillage of toxic waste, bribing politicians and officials of the government commission.
Most of the waste comes from North Italy.
Giorgio Napolitano, President of Italian Repubblic, said on June 2008:
High level of policlorobifenili (PCB), made by chemical factories not presentin this region, was founded,
in the country of Campania and in the blood of some inhabitants too.
Industrial muds, coming from Porto Marghera (industrial dock near Venice), (about 8000 tonns), were probably spread in Acerra countries, by Casalesi clan
, with the help of some owner of these fields, passed as compost
.
Emblematic is the case of a company, whose assets were seized by police in an investigation started in 2006,
who illegally disposed waste coming from industries in the regions of Veneto
and Tuscany
into the territories of Bacoli
, Giuliano
and Quiliano
: this company disposed about one million tonnes of toxic garbage for a triennium, with an ern of € 27 millions. The company was already the subject of an investigation in 2003, but was ever acting undisturbed for many years.
In Marigliano was found, in an illegal dump, a whole tank full of toxic substances buried.
The fires, producing dioxin, have become more frequent because they could be confused with the numerous fires during the garbage crisis, where large amounts of garbage was burned. For example this one happened in Campania between the 2007 - 2008, during the garbage crisis. Between January and March 2007 were burned in agricultural land 30.000 kilograms of waste with a revenue of more than 118,000.
For the presence of fires in the north area of Napoli, Roberto Saviano
first used (in his book Gomorra as title for the last and the second last chapters) the name "Land of fire" (in Italian terra dei fuochi).
has discovered some muds in Pianura landfill
, coming from ACNA of Cengio
in Napoli, for an amount of about 800.000 tons.
The Italian Procura della Repubblica in Napoli has found (through telephone wiretappings) some irregularities in the waste disposal into the landfill of Villaricca
, managed by FIBA (a company of the group Impregilo
).
The population of Pianosa had similar claims against the reopening of the closed waste landfill, proposed by government commissioner Giovanni De Gennaro, and further given up.
Between the end of 2007 and the beginning of 2008~ some protests degenerated into urban violence
between Napoli and the suburbs of Quarto
and Pozzuoli
. In these situation, same criminals
acted directed of local political interests colluded with criminals linked to the building speculation.
Similarly, there were further claims, between the suburbs inhabitants, for the fear of another source of pollution, like the incinerator of Acerra.
in buffalo milk from farms in the province of Caserta, some dioxin
was found. In a first time some country like South Korea and Japan, assigned this one to environmental pollution, and stopped their import.
Afterward the spread of this notice (that is related only at 2,80% of the farms in Campania)
the selling of dairy products from the Campania decreased, not only in Italy but in all the world, too.
".
Campania
Campania is a region in southern Italy. The region has a population of around 5.8 million people, making it the second-most-populous region of Italy; its total area of 13,590 km² makes it the most densely populated region in the country...
comprising the municipalities of Acerra
Acerra
Acerra is a town and comune of Campania, southern Italy, in the Province of Naples, about 20 km northeast of the provincial capital in Naples. It is part of the Agro Acerrano plain.-History:...
, Nola
Nola
Nola is a city and comune of Campania, southern Italy, in the province of Naples, situated in the plain between Mount Vesuvius and the Apennines...
and Marigliano
Marigliano
Marigliano is a town and comune of the province of Naples, Campania in southern Italy. It is part of the Agro Nolano plain.-Geography:The town lies 19 km from Naples...
. The region has recently experienced a considerable increase in the number of deaths caused by cancer and other diseases that exceeds the Italian national average. The rise in the cancer-related mortality rate is thought to be mainly caused by environmental pollution from illegal waste disposal by the mafia-type criminal organization the Camorra
Camorra
The Camorra is a Mafia-type criminal organization, or secret society, originating in the region of Campania and its capital Naples in Italy. It is one of the oldest and largest criminal organizations in Italy, dating to the 18th century.-Background:...
.
Definition
| Cancer death rate | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In the following table, the death rate for every more common cancer that appear in the triangle of death, is reported. These data are according to the study published by The Lancet Oncology.
|
The term "The triangle of death" was first used in August 2004
by the international scientific medical review The Lancet
The Lancet
The Lancet is a weekly peer-reviewed general medical journal. It is one of the world's best known, oldest, and most respected general medical journals...
Oncology (edit by Elsevier
Elsevier
Elsevier is a publishing company which publishes medical and scientific literature. It is a part of the Reed Elsevier group. Based in Amsterdam, the company has operations in the United Kingdom, USA and elsewhere....
) who published a work by two researchers: Kathryn Senior and Alfredo Mazza (researchers in Pisa
Pisa
Pisa is a city in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the right bank of the mouth of the River Arno on the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa...
's CNR), See http://www.epicentro.iss.it/focus/discariche/Rifiuti.pdf from website Centro Nazionale di Epidemiologia, Sorveglianza e Promozione della Salute called: Italian “Triangle of death” linked to waste crisis.
An estimated 550,000 people live in this area. The death rate for 100,000 inhabitants (the number of deaths every year, per 100,000 inhabitants) from liver cancer
Liver cancer
Liver tumors or hepatic tumors are tumors or growths on or in the liver . Several distinct types of tumors can develop in the liver because the liver is made up of various cell types. These growths can be benign or malignant...
is close to 34.5% for men and 20.8 % for women. On the contrary, the national average is 14%. The death rate for bladder cancer and CNS cancer is higher than in other European countries, although by a more modest increment.
Campania overall has lower than the average cancer mortality rate than Italy.
The high death rate is thought to be due to the illegal hazardous waste disposal from various sources, especially from the northern Italy industries, carried out by Camorra.
Epidemiological research committed, in the provinces of Napoli and Caserta, by World Health Organization
In 2007, a further researchcommitted by World Health Organization
World Health Organization
The World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health. Established on 7 April 1948, with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the agency inherited the mandate and resources of its predecessor, the Health...
, Italian Istituto Superiore di Sanità
Istituto Superiore di Sanità
The Istituto Superiore di Sanità , also ISS, is an Italian public institution that, as the leading technical-scientific body of the Italian National Health Service , performs research, trial, control, counseling, documentation and training for public health...
, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche
Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche
The Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche or National Research Council, is an Italian public organization set up to support scientific and technological research. Its headquarters are in Rome.-History:The institution was founded in 1923...
and Campania Region
Campania
Campania is a region in southern Italy. The region has a population of around 5.8 million people, making it the second-most-populous region of Italy; its total area of 13,590 km² makes it the most densely populated region in the country...
was made; this one, has collected data on cancer death rate and congenital abnormalities in 196 municipalities around this area, between 1994 and 2002. In this statistical work, the confidence interval about the death reliability into Confidence interval
Confidence interval
In statistics, a confidence interval is a particular kind of interval estimate of a population parameter and is used to indicate the reliability of an estimate. It is an observed interval , in principle different from sample to sample, that frequently includes the parameter of interest, if the...
are showed; it uses Bayesian inference
Bayesian inference
In statistics, Bayesian inference is a method of statistical inference. It is often used in science and engineering to determine model parameters, make predictions about unknown variables, and to perform model selection...
.
The death rate for all the causes is shown below: it was significantly in excess
- between the male, the 19% of the towns in the province of Caserta, and for 43% of the towns in the province of Napoli,
- between the female in the 23 % in the province of Caserta, and in 47 % in the province of Napoli".
The authors found an elevated rate of congenital malformation, too. The work shows (in this areas with an elevated death rate or an elevated congenital malformations) almost always have got landfills or uncontrolled waste sites. From the other side, this works highlights the difficult to determinate the causality and the link between the elevated death and malformation rates and exposures related to the disposal of waste.
The presence of dangerous pollutants such as dioxin, particularly in the area of Acerra, is found, as well as illegal activities of waste disposal, even in the business of Montefibre, and as early as 1987, a decree of the Ministry of Environment called Acerra territory "at high risk of environmental crisis".
Illegal spillage of toxic waste in Campania
The thesis linking the high rate of cancer with environmental pollution in several sites in Campania, is supported by the confession of the boss Gaetano Vassallo, linked to the Casalesi clanCasalesi clan
The Casalesi clan is a clan within the Camorra, an Italian criminal organization, operating from Casal di Principe in the province of Caserta between Naples and Salerno.Formed by Antonio Bardellino, it is a confederation of clans in the Caserta area...
, whom systematically worked, for about 20 years, to the spillage of toxic waste, bribing politicians and officials of the government commission.
Most of the waste comes from North Italy.
Giorgio Napolitano, President of Italian Repubblic, said on June 2008:
High level of policlorobifenili (PCB), made by chemical factories not presentin this region, was founded,
in the country of Campania and in the blood of some inhabitants too.
Industrial muds, coming from Porto Marghera (industrial dock near Venice), (about 8000 tonns), were probably spread in Acerra countries, by Casalesi clan
Casalesi clan
The Casalesi clan is a clan within the Camorra, an Italian criminal organization, operating from Casal di Principe in the province of Caserta between Naples and Salerno.Formed by Antonio Bardellino, it is a confederation of clans in the Caserta area...
, with the help of some owner of these fields, passed as compost
Compost
Compost is organic matter that has been decomposed and recycled as a fertilizer and soil amendment. Compost is a key ingredient in organic farming. At its most essential, the process of composting requires simply piling up waste outdoors and waiting for the materials to break down from anywhere...
.
Emblematic is the case of a company, whose assets were seized by police in an investigation started in 2006,
who illegally disposed waste coming from industries in the regions of Veneto
Veneto
Veneto is one of the 20 regions of Italy. Its population is about 5 million, ranking 5th in Italy.Veneto had been for more than a millennium an independent state, the Republic of Venice, until it was eventually annexed by Italy in 1866 after brief Austrian and French rule...
and Tuscany
Tuscany
Tuscany is a region in Italy. It has an area of about 23,000 square kilometres and a population of about 3.75 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence ....
into the territories of Bacoli
Bacoli
Bacoli is a comune in the Province of Naples in the Italian region Campania, located about 15 km west of Naples. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 27,402 and an area of 13.3 km².-History:...
, Giuliano
Giugliano in Campania
Giugliano in Campania is a city and comune in the province of Napoli, Campania, Italy. As of 2008, it had some 113,000 inhabitants and it is the most populated Italian city not provincial seat. It is part of Naples' metropolitan area.-History:In 5th-4th century BCE the territory of Giugliano was...
and Quiliano
Quiliano
Quiliano is a comune in the Province of Savona in the Italian region Liguria, located about 45 km southwest of Genoa and about 5 km west of Savona...
: this company disposed about one million tonnes of toxic garbage for a triennium, with an ern of € 27 millions. The company was already the subject of an investigation in 2003, but was ever acting undisturbed for many years.
In Marigliano was found, in an illegal dump, a whole tank full of toxic substances buried.
Land of fire
Another step of this illegal activity are the fires burned to eliminate the gabbage, or to recover copper from electric wires.The fires, producing dioxin, have become more frequent because they could be confused with the numerous fires during the garbage crisis, where large amounts of garbage was burned. For example this one happened in Campania between the 2007 - 2008, during the garbage crisis. Between January and March 2007 were burned in agricultural land 30.000 kilograms of waste with a revenue of more than 118,000.
For the presence of fires in the north area of Napoli, Roberto Saviano
Roberto Saviano
Roberto Saviano is an Italian writer and journalist.In his writings, articles, television programs, and books he employs prose and news-reporting style to narrate the story of the Camorra , exposing its territory and business connections.Since 2006, following the publication of his bestselling...
first used (in his book Gomorra as title for the last and the second last chapters) the name "Land of fire" (in Italian terra dei fuochi).
Hazardous industrial waste disposal in lawfull landfill
Hazardous industrial waste disposal may happen in lawful landfill, too. In 2000, an enquiry of Parliamentary Commission about wastehas discovered some muds in Pianura landfill
Pianura
Pianura is a western suburb of Naples, southern Italy. It is bounded on one side by the area of Soccavo and on the other side by the outskirts of the town of Pozzuoli.-Personalities:*Justin Russolillo , presbyter...
, coming from ACNA of Cengio
Cengio
Cengio is a comune in the Province of Savona in the Italian region Liguria, located about 60 km west of Genoa and about 25 km northwest of Savona. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 3,744 and an area of 18.8 km²....
in Napoli, for an amount of about 800.000 tons.
The Italian Procura della Repubblica in Napoli has found (through telephone wiretappings) some irregularities in the waste disposal into the landfill of Villaricca
Villaricca
Villaricca is a comune in the Province of Naples in the Italian region Campania, located about 10 km northwest of Naples...
, managed by FIBA (a company of the group Impregilo
Impregilo
Impregilo S.p.A. is an Italian-based construction and civil engineering business headquartered in Milan. The company was founded in 1959 and, through mergers, has grown to become the leading Italian engineering and general contracting group in the construction and environmental sectors...
).
Claims between population
In 2008 the waste commissioner Guido Bertolaso, (the head of the civil protection department), planned the opening of a new waste landfill. The Chiaiano's population claimed against this decision for two reasons:- the mistrust in the governing institutions, whom, in the last years, had allowed or were lacking of strength in fighting against these illicit waste disposals.
- the consciousness of the rise in cancer death rate.
The population of Pianosa had similar claims against the reopening of the closed waste landfill, proposed by government commissioner Giovanni De Gennaro, and further given up.
Between the end of 2007 and the beginning of 2008~ some protests degenerated into urban violence
between Napoli and the suburbs of Quarto
Quarto
Quarto could refer to:* Quarto, a size or format of a book in which four leaves of a book are created from a standard size sheet of paper* For specific information about quarto texts of William Shakespeare's works, see:...
and Pozzuoli
Pozzuoli
Pozzuoli is a city and comune of the province of Naples, in the Italian region of Campania. It is the main city of the Phlegrean peninsula.-History:Pozzuoli began as the Greek colony of Dicaearchia...
. In these situation, same criminals
acted directed of local political interests colluded with criminals linked to the building speculation.
Similarly, there were further claims, between the suburbs inhabitants, for the fear of another source of pollution, like the incinerator of Acerra.
Effect of pollution on the selling of agroalimentary products
In March 2008in buffalo milk from farms in the province of Caserta, some dioxin
Dioxin
Polychlorinated dibenzodioxins , or simply dioxins, are a group of organic polyhalogenated compounds that are significant environmental pollutants. They are commonly but inaccurately referred to as dioxins for simplicity, because every PCDD molecule contains a dioxin skeletal structure as the...
was found. In a first time some country like South Korea and Japan, assigned this one to environmental pollution, and stopped their import.
Afterward the spread of this notice (that is related only at 2,80% of the farms in Campania)
the selling of dairy products from the Campania decreased, not only in Italy but in all the world, too.
Illegal hazardous waste disposal in Campania in literature and cinema
The illegal hazardous waste disposal in Campania are treated by the book Gomorra from the writer Roberto Saviano, and the film Gomorra from the director Matteo Garrone and by the documentary "Biùtiful cauntriBiùtiful cauntri
-Release and book:It was premiered in November 2007 at the Torino Film Festival, where it received a special mention. It was then released in ten Italian movie theaters in March 2008. On 15 July 2008 the film was released in France, where it received a positive review from Le Monde...
".
In television
- ReportReportA report is a textual work made with the specific intention of relaying information or recounting certain events in a widely presentable form....
: Terra bruciata, Tv 9-3-2008, and how finished this story in: Come è andata a finire?. - Repubblica Radio TVRepubblica Radio TVRepubblica Radio TV is an Italian all-news television channel, related to the Italian newspaper la Repubblica and owned by Gruppo Editoriale L'Espresso....
: Morire di diossina in Campania, del 28-12-2007: http://tv.repubblica.it/home_page.php?playmode=player&cont_id=15719, http://tv.repubblica.it/home_page.php?playmode=player&cont_id=15720, http://tv.repubblica.it/home_page.php?playmode=player&cont_id=15721 - La 7: Il cancro di Napoli, del 12-12-2007; Allarme cibo avvelenato, Exit del 18-12-2007; Il posto dei rifiuti, del 22-09-2007
- Tg1TG1TG1 is the brand for Italian state-owned TV channel Rai 1's news programmes. They are shown domestically on Rai Uno and across the Europe on Rai News 24 and the world on Raitalia several times throughout the day...
: interview to Roberto SavianoRoberto SavianoRoberto Saviano is an Italian writer and journalist.In his writings, articles, television programs, and books he employs prose and news-reporting style to narrate the story of the Camorra , exposing its territory and business connections.Since 2006, following the publication of his bestselling...
at 3-1-2008 (evening ediction at 8:00 p.m.) - Sat 2000Sat 2000TV2000 is an Italy-based broadcasting network that carries Roman Catholic-themed programming, owned by the Italian Episcopal Conference and operated by RAI....
: interview to dott. Antonio Marfella, oncologist at "Formato famiglia, 20-12-2007
See also
- CamorraCamorraThe Camorra is a Mafia-type criminal organization, or secret society, originating in the region of Campania and its capital Naples in Italy. It is one of the oldest and largest criminal organizations in Italy, dating to the 18th century.-Background:...
- Ecomafia
- Naples waste management issueNaples waste management issueThe Naples waste management crisis was a series of events surrounding the lack of waste collection in the city of Naples that peaked in the summer of 2008, but carries on to the present day.-Background:...
- Gomorrah (book)Gomorrah (book)Gomorrah is a book by Roberto Saviano published in 2006.-The book:The book describes the clandestine particulars of the business of the Camorra, a powerful Neapolitan mafia-like organization...
- Gomorrah (film)
- Biùtiful cauntriBiùtiful cauntri-Release and book:It was premiered in November 2007 at the Torino Film Festival, where it received a special mention. It was then released in ten Italian movie theaters in March 2008. On 15 July 2008 the film was released in France, where it received a positive review from Le Monde...
- Land of the fires
- Radioactive waste dumping by the 'NdranghetaRadioactive waste dumping by the 'NdranghetaThe 'Ndrangheta, a criminal organization from Calabria has been involved in radioactive waste dumping since the 1980s. Ships with toxic and radioactive waste were sunk off the Italian coast...
External links
- La Terra dei fuochi, website showing claims on illegal waste disposal in CampaniaCampaniaCampania is a region in southern Italy. The region has a population of around 5.8 million people, making it the second-most-populous region of Italy; its total area of 13,590 km² makes it the most densely populated region in the country...
- La Terra dei fuochi, website on "triangle of poisons" Giugliano-QualianoQualianoQualiano is a comune in the Province of Naples in the Italian region Campania, located about 13 km northwest of Naples. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 25,452 and an area of 7.3 km²....
-VillariccaVillariccaVillaricca is a comune in the Province of Naples in the Italian region Campania, located about 10 km northwest of Naples...