Análisis de los efectos en la salud ambiental asociados a la exposición de olores ofensivos de pozos sépticos desbordados en el barrio el Ruby, Villavicencio, Colombia.

Abstract

The effects on environmental health due to exposure to offensive odors is associated with the absence of basic sanitation systems such as sewage networks, becoming a public health problem of populations exposed to different concentrations of odor emissions as is the case of the Ruby neighborhood, located in the city of Villavicencio, Meta due to the overflow of conventional septic tanks installed in the need to evacuate domestic wastewater. In relation to the above, the purpose of this research study is to analyze the effects on health and quality associated with the continuous exposure to offensive odors (hydrogen sulfide) and thus be able to generate a research document that allows to support before the competent governmental entities the need to implement a sewage system. To this end, the initial conditions of the study area were initially identified through the collection of technical information on the location and sizing of septic tanks, identifying the areas where the problem occurs (overflow), then the instrument was applied to collect information relevant to population characterization, health conditions and frequency of associated symptoms. Subsequently, hydrogen sulfide concentrations were measured during 7 days of continuous monitoring. To finally establish the analysis of the frequency of the indicated symptoms in relation to the concentrations of the odor, the Spearman correlation statistical test was performed, having as main results with a perfect correlation the symptoms such as stress, mood changes, irritation in the nose, irritation in the throat and difficulty in breathing with their respective effects on health and quality of life present due to the symptoms shown.