The science, in plain language
DumpRadar reads free, public government data and turns it into a clear picture of what the landfills near you could mean for your health. Here's how — without the jargon.
Closer means more exposure
Decades of health research show that risk from a waste site fades with distance. We turn that into four simple zones around every site. Each card below is written plainly — open “the technical detail” for the studies behind it.
If you live here, you're as close as it gets. This is where people most often notice strong odors, report breathing problems, and where gases from the site can work their way into homes. It doesn't mean you'll get sick — but it's the area worth paying the most attention to.
You're not right on top of the site, but you're close enough that odors, dust, and anything moving through the groundwater can still reach your neighborhood — especially on bad-weather days or if you're downwind.
At this distance the day-to-day impact is usually small. The thing to keep an eye on is the long term — years of low-level exposure, or contamination that slowly moves through groundwater over time.
You're far enough away that this particular landfill isn't expected to measurably affect your air or water. That's good news — though it's always worth knowing what else is in your wider area.
How we size each site's zones
Two landfills are never the same. We weigh up everything we can learn about a site across four areas, then widen or tighten its zones to match. A higher-concern site gets wider zones; a well-run, modern one gets tighter ones. Where the wind data exists, the zones also lean in the direction pollution actually drifts.
The site itself
The basics of what this place is: what kind of waste it takes, how old it is, how full it is, and whether it sits somewhere floods could spread its contents.
- Type of waste accepted
- Age and how it was built
- How full it is
- Flood exposure
Gas and emissions
How much landfill gas the site gives off and how well it's captured. Escaping gas is the most direct sign of pollution reaching the air around it.
- Reported methane
- How well gas is collected
- Any history of underground fires
- PFAS in the air
Reaching the water
How likely it is that anything buried here can reach groundwater or nearby rivers and lakes — and how the site's track record with regulators looks.
- Liner and leak protections
- Enforcement history
- Toxic chemicals received
- Closeness to water
The people nearby
Who actually lives in the exposure zones — how many people, how many children and older adults, and whether this is a community already carrying more than its share.
- People in the closest zone
- Children and older adults
- Community burden
- Downwind exposure
Every site's report shows where its number comes from in plain terms. We'd rather be honest about what we can and can't measure than present a precise-looking score we can't stand behind.
Built only on public data
DumpRadar is built entirely from free, public government data — nothing licensed, nothing behind a paywall. Here are the agencies and programs behind what you see.
The national inventory of landfills — capacity, age, and gas-collection status.
Methane that facilities report emitting — a direct measure of escaping landfill gas.
Inspections, violations, and enforcement actions on a facility's record.
Specific toxic chemicals transferred to a facility, by name.
Hazardous-waste handling status and codes.
Nationwide PFAS sampling across public water systems.
Whether a site is a federally listed contaminated site.
Neighborhood-level air cancer and respiratory risk estimates.
Groundwater depth, aquifer type, and nearby waterbodies.
Prevailing wind direction — so zones follow where pollution actually drifts.
Whether a site sits in a floodplain that could spread its contents.
Who lives nearby — population, age, income, and community burden.
The “forever chemicals” most tools skip
PFAS don't break down, and they can build up in drinking water for years. We check the public water systems near each site for PFAS and compare them to the federal safety limit — a layer most consumer tools leave out entirely.
Federal limit for PFOA & PFOS (finalized 2024)
Public water systems sampled for PFAS
What this is built on
| Finding | Source | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Health risk within 5 km of a landfill (242,409-person cohort) | Int'l Journal of Epidemiology, Oxford University | 2016 |
| Zone A (0–3 km) primary; Zone B (3–8 km) secondary; control beyond 8 km | UK primary care consultation study, medRxiv | 2024 |
| Three-zone radius classification for congenital anomaly risk | EUROHAZCON study, The Lancet | 1998 |
| 21 million Americans live within 1 mile of a Superfund site | Urban Institute / EPA | 2022 |
| 38% greater odds of lower life satisfaction within 1 mile | NIH PMC, longitudinal study | 2024 |
| PFAS in drinking water: 4,626–6,864 attributable cancer cases/year | Li et al., USC/NIH, J. Exposure Science & Env. Epidemiology | 2025 |
| “Within 1 mile of a landfill” as an explicit PFAS screening criterion | Washington State Department of Health | 2025 |
| PFOA & PFOS drinking-water limits finalized at 4 ng/L | EPA National Primary Drinking Water Regulation | 2024 |
| MSW landfills: 3rd-largest US methane source | EPA GHGRP Annual Report | 2022 |
| EJScreen removed from public access | EPA / EDGI documentation | 2025 |
DumpRadar is an informational tool, not a professional environmental site assessment. Risk zones are estimates based on public data and are meant to help you ask better questions — not to give a definitive verdict on any property.