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Leachate originating from municipal solid waste landfills poses a serious contamination threat to public health. The study performed a biophysicochemical characterization of leachate from two landfills in Oman, i.e., Multaqa landfill leachate (MLL) and Barka landfill leachate (BLL) before and after rainfall. Samples were characterized for 92 parameters. Additionally, the leachate pollution index (LPI) was estimated to assess the expected contamination levels and potential environmental health risks. The study found a high value of the leachate parameters without any rainfall incidents. Pearson correlations (+ve) are seen at more than 90% in all cases, which is a strong association (r.0.75) for the measured parameters in both MLL and BLL. Rainfall significantly reduced the concentrations of organic contaminants and solids in leachate due to dilution. The study revealed about 18%–29% and 14%–28% reductions in the LPI sub-index for organic and inorganic contaminants, respectively, after rainfall. The overall LPI values were higher compared with similar findings from the literature. Such deviations could be attributed to the unsegregated nature of solid waste, resulting in the formation of contaminants or from the disposal of a high volume of solid waste in a smaller area. Therefore, the study recommends efficient management strategies for landfills to reduce potential leachate groundwater contamination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emerging evidence from epidemiological studies has shown that exposure to particulate matter (PM) affects brain and neurological health in addition to respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. This poses serious public health issue, especially in developing countries with weak air pollution control policies and mitigation approaches. The study aimed to evaluate the short-term effects of ambient PM2.5 and PM10 (particles with an aerodynamic diameter <2.5 and 10 μm, respectively) concentrations on the resident of Arak (Iran). The World Health Organization (WHO) Health Assessment model was used to estimate the incidence of chronic bronchitis (ICB) among adults and prevalence of bronchitis (PB) in children, including morbidities such as restricted activity days (RADs) and work days lost (WDL). Annual mean PM2.5 concentrations were 12.9 and 24.1 μg/m, whereas PM10 were 84.5 and 51.9 μg/m in 2015 and 2016, respectively. In 2015–2016, 37.6%–56.9% for ICB, 28.0%–44.3% for PB, 2.5%–7.0% for RADs, and 2.4%–6.9% for WDL were attributed to ambient PM10 and PM2.5 exposures, respectively. Finally, 6–10 ICB, 6–10 PB, 279–788 RADs and 76–214 WDL attributable cases due to PM10 and PM2.5, respectively, could be prevented if the annual limit values of 10 μg/m were not exceeded. This study could serve as proxy for similar urban residential environments across many developing countries to aid in informing local and national authorities about future stringent air pollution mitigation policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]