Scoping Review of the Environmental and Human Health Effects of Rural Alaska Landfills

Abstract

Landfill contaminants pose significant risks to environmental and human health, particularly in rural Alaska. These communities are predominantly Alaska Native and face unique challenges in solid waste management due to geography, climate, and limited infrastructure. This scoping review assessed published research on the impacts of landfill contaminants in the Arctic (Aim 1) and Alaska specifically (Aim 2). Seventy-one studies met the inclusion criteria, all of which were used to develop a conceptual model of contaminant transport pathways. Thirty-nine studies included Alaska-specific research: thirty-three focused on environmental impacts, and six addressed human health (e.g., birth outcomes, cancer). Key topics included waste burning, heat generation, carbon release, leachate characterization, and water or sediment contamination. Evidence specific to Alaska suggested landfill leachate may contaminate surface water and groundwater, and that microbes can migrate beyond the landfill site boundaries in communities using honeybuckets (plastic bag-lined buckets that collect human waste). Landfill contaminants also impacted wildlife through consumption of garbage, which may have human health implications for subsistence-based communities. Major research gaps remain in understanding individual-level exposures, the effects of emerging contaminants, and the mechanisms of contaminant transport pathways. Further research designed for causal inference is needed to support improvements to public and environmental health.