Use of scientific evidence to inform environmental health policies and governance strategies at the local level

A major public health challenge facing local administrations is reducing the preventable burden of non-communicable diseases making cities more resilient against environmental threats. The objective of this work was to conduct a synthesis of scientific evidence relating to the local context and implement a translational process to support the Department of the Environment in order to improve integration with concurrent policy sectors to urban health and sustainability goals. The first phase reviewed the studies on the association between environmental risk factors and human health and on the contamination levels of the environmental matrices; the second phase synthesised the data in key messages according to the concerns formulated with the collaboration of the Environmental Department. A total of 31 studies were assessed: 21 investigated environmental risk factors, and 9 measured the presence of pollutants in the environmental matrices. The findings identified air and noise pollution as the most important threats associated with respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, together with significant contamination levels of the urban environment from microplastics and hydrocarbons. Based on the review findings, a layman's report for the City Council and the citizens, explicitly addressing emerging issues, was made publicly accessible. A lack of specific, updated and exchangeable data for city health profiling in a deteriorated environmental context represented the main barrier to a resilient community. The suggested recommendation for the local administration was to adopt an environmental policy integration framework to strengthen the monitoring of the impact on citizens' health.