Tetovo, 23 August 2023 (MIA) — The director of the Tetovo Center for Public Health's department of hygiene and health ecology Dr. Ratko Davidovski warned on Wednesday that burning municipal waste produces carcinogenic substances and urged authorities to stop it, after a nearby landfill had burst into flames two days ago and had not been put out.

Davidovski said rising levels of airborne particulate matter were measurable, but burning waste also produced carcinogenic heavy metals that the state was not testing the air for.

"PM10 and PM2.5 levels have increased due to the burning of municipal waste at this improvised temporary landfill, and we all felt it, especially those with chronic illnesses and children," Davidovski told MIA's Tetovo correspondent.

"The health of people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, and bronchitis is sharply deteriorating. Everyone feels discomfort, even healthy people. We cannot sleep at night. The biggest danger during waste burning, besides these measurable [PM2.5 and PM10] concentrations, is the release of dioxins and furans, proven carcinogenic substances," Davidovski said.

He recalled that complex chemical and biological processes of decomposition also occur at landfills.

"We cannot have this improvisation of a landfill. There should be one regional landfill that meets all hygienic and technical standards so that this does not happen ever again.

"If we were to have an organized landfill with all the parameters that a landfill should have, with a layer of soil that would be constantly composted, nothing like this would ever be happening. It is high time we built a regional landfill that meets European standards," Davidovski added.

Crisis Management Center director Stojanche Angelov came to the scene of the burning landfill after a call by the Tetovo firefighting unit commander.

"Although the firefighters did their best yesterday, we made a decision to cover the landfill with soil. The owner will try to cover it today with different heavy machinery to prevent further burning," Angelov said.

The landfill, which is near Volkovija, is being extinguished for the second day. The smoke and smell can be felt in Tetovo and Gostivar and several other villages. ssh/mr