Odor emissions are one of the main problems of environmental pollution in the world. Fact that places them as environmental pollutants and consequently, in a public health issue.

   This study presents an analysis of the environmental situation of odors in Costa Rica based on citizen complaints filed through the Integrated System of Environmental Complaints (SITADA), according to the Ministry of Environment and Energy, in order to identify critical areas of odorific pollution.

S. Campos, K. Vetrani, M. Murrell, E. Montero, L. Bermúdez

Programa de Estudios en Calidad Ambiente y Metrología (PROCAME); Universidad Nacional, Costa Rica.

   Competing interests: The author has declared that no competing interests exist.

   Academic editor: Carlos N Díaz.

   Content quality: This paper has been peer reviewed by at least two reviewers. See scientific committee here

   Citation: S. Campos, K. Vetrani, M. Murrell, E. Montero, L. Bermúdez, 2019, Analysis of the citizen complaints filed in the integrated system for processing and attending environmental complaints (SITADA) as an indicator of the odor pollution in Costa Rica, OLORES19 Conference, Santiago, Chile, www.olores.org.

   Copyright: 2020 Olores.org. Open Content Creative Commons licence. It is allowed to download, reuse, reprint, modify, distribute, and/or copy articles in olores.org website, as long as the original authors and source are cited. No permission is required from the authors or the publishers.

   ISBN: 978-84-09-22553-8

   Keyword: odorific pollution, odor annoyance, environmental policy.

Abstract

  Odor emissions are one of the main problems of environmental pollution in the world. Fact that places them as environmental pollutants and consequently, in a public health issue. This study presents an analysis of the environmental situation of odors in Costa Rica based on citizen complaints filed through the Integrated System of Environmental Complaints (SITADA), according to the Ministry of Environment and Energy, in order to identify critical areas of odorific pollution. During the 2013-2018 period there were a total of 304 reports related to wastewater (34%), combustion (17%), solid waste (16%) and animals (13%). Some of the sources of emission identified correspond to wastewater treatment plants, bodies of water, chimneys, fires, landfills, waste dumps and farms. From the spatial analysis carried out in a Geographic Information System it was determined that 74% of the cantons of the country register at least one complaint, being Alajuela, Grecia, San Carlos, Pococí, Desamparados, Escazú and San José, the areas with the highest conflict due to odor pollution. The results of the study show the absence of national regulation in this regard, because now the complaints are resolved when the issuing source is related to some type of regulated pollution, for example, discharge and reuse of wastewater, emission of air pollutants, and integral management of solid waste. This justifies the need to generate policies and guidelines that facilitate the management of odors as an independent environmental variable, including prevention, measurement, monitoring and treatment.

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