Vicinity Of Incinerators Research Articles

The value of citizen science: The controversy over municipal solid waste incineration and dioxin pollution in contemporary China

Abstract Municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) has become the subject of one of the most heated environmental debates in mainland China. While government officials and industry representatives are in favour of this technology, claiming that incineration is the most advanced and effective way of managing waste and that the risks are minimal, residents in the vicinity of incinerators are concerned about toxic pollutants, particularly dioxins. This article traces the rise of the anti-incineration movement in China since 2006. It shows how citizens have mobilised, gathered evidence, and informed themselves with the help of internet bulletin board systems; joining forces with NGOs and independent scientific experts, they have petitioned the government and called on government representatives to respond to their concerns in public debates. Dioxin pollution from MSWI continues to be a problem, but the controversy has demonstrated the resourcefulness and determination of Chinese citizens in making their voices heard.

Cancer mortality in towns in the vicinity of incinerators and installations for the recovery or disposal of hazardous waste

BackgroundWaste treatment plants release toxic emissions into the environment which affect neighboring towns. ObjectivesTo investigate whether there might be excess cancer mortality in towns situated in the vicinity of Spanish-based incinerators and installations for the recovery or disposal of hazardous waste, according to the different categories of industrial activity. MethodsAn ecologic study was designed to examine municipal mortality due to 33 types of cancer, across the period 1997–2006. Population exposure to pollution was estimated on the basis of distance from town of residence to pollution source. Using Besag–York–Mollié (BYM) regression models with Integrated Nested Laplace approximations for Bayesian inference, and Mixed Poisson regression models, we assessed the risk of dying from cancer in a 5-kilometer zone around installations, analyzed the effect of category of industrial activity, and conducted individual analyses within a 50-kilometer radius of each installation. ResultsExcess cancer mortality (BYM model: relative risk, 95% credible interval) was detected in the total population residing in the vicinity of these installations as a whole (1.06, 1.04–1.09), and, principally, in the vicinity of incinerators (1.09, 1.01–1.18) and scrap metal/end-of-life vehicle handling facilities, in particular (1.04, 1.00–1.09). Special mention should be made of the results for tumors of the pleura (1.71, 1.34–2.14), stomach (1.18, 1.10–1.27), liver (1.18, 1.06–1.30), kidney (1.14, 1.04–1.23), ovary (1.14, 1.05–1.23), lung (1.10, 1.05–1.15), leukemia (1.10, 1.03–1.17), colon–rectum (1.08, 1.03–1.13) and bladder (1.08, 1.01–1.16) in the vicinity of all such installations. ConclusionsOur results support the hypothesis of a statistically significant increase in the risk of dying from cancer in towns near incinerators and installations for the recovery or disposal of hazardous waste.

Human exposure to heavy metals in the vicinity of Portuguese solid waste incinerators—Part 2: Biomonitoring of lead in maternal and umbilical cord blood

As part of environmental health surveillance programs related to solid waste incinerators located near Lisbon and on Madeira Island, human biomonitoring projects have been implemented in Portugal, some of them focused on cross-sectional surveys of heavy metals in blood. One of the general aims of these programs is to provide Portuguese data on the extent and pattern of human exposure to the pollutants potentially released in the stack gases from the incinerators, namely heavy metals. The present investigation reports information specifically on blood lead levels of newborn–mother pairs living in the vicinity of the incinerators under study, as well as of statistically similar participants living outside the exposed area. For Lisbon, lead levels determined at the baseline period (T0), as well as three subsequent evaluations of potential specific impacts of the incinerator (T1, T2 and T3) are described in order to investigate spatial and temporal trends of human exposure to lead. Available data for Madeira, namely lead levels in blood from the study population before the incinerator started operation, is also described. For Lisbon, analyses showed a statistically significant decrease of lead concentrations in maternal ( p < 0.001 ) and umbilical cord blood ( p < 0.001 ) during the whole monitoring period. Practically “overt” transplacental exposure to lead was observed only in the Lisbon biomonitoring project and for some cross-sectional surveys. Baseline levels for Madeira were the lowest found in all observations already performed in both programs (maternal and umbilical cord mean lead levels of 0.4 μg/dl and 0.3 μg/dl, respectively). No statistical associations have been found between lead levels in blood and age neither for global populations from Lisbon and Madeira nor for specific groups included in the different observational periods.

Health risk assessment of dioxin emissions from municipal waste incinerators: the Neerlandquarter (Wilrijk, Belgium)

Two municipal waste incinerators in the vicinity of a residential area close to the city of Antwerp caused concern to local habitants. Risk assessment was performed combining chemical, toxicological measurements and model calculations. As the first step in risk assessment an inventory was made of historic emissions from both incinerators with emphasis on dioxins. The operational atmospheric transport and deposition model for priority substances (OPS) was used to calculate the deposition of dioxins in the vicinity of incinerators. The observed soil contamination pattern did not correspond to the calculated deposition pattern, indicating that other sources may contribute at least partly to the local PCDD/PCDF contamination of the area. Dioxin exposure of people in the Neerlandquarter as a function of the food consumption behavior was calculated using a mathematical model (VLIER-HUMAAN) combined with transfer factors. According to the results of these calculations, just residing in the impact area does not result in a meaningful risk. Only if locally produced food was consumed (milk, meat and vegetables), exposure in the Neerlandquarter was enhanced compared to the average dioxin exposure estimated for the Flemish population. Exposure in 1997 was below the exposure in 1980. As a consequence of different eating habits and lower bodyweight, children are subjected to significantly higher exposure than adults. Adverse health outcomes from dioxin exposure in the past cannot be excluded. There was no evidence for enhanced exposure to genotoxicants based on a comparison of chromosomal damage to blood cells of children from the study area to those from a control group.

Cancer incidence near municipal solid waste incinerators in Great Britain.

By use of the postcoded database held by the Small Area Health Statistic Unit, cancer incidence of over 14 million people living near 72 municipal solid waste incinerators in Great Britain was examined from 1974-86 (England), 1974-84 (Wales) and 1975-87 (Scotland). Numbers of observed cases were compared with expected numbers calculated from national rates (regionally adjusted) after stratification by a deprivation index based on 1981 census small area statistics. Observed-expected ratios were tested for decline in risk with distance up to 7.5 km. The study was conducted in two stages: the first involved a stratified random sample of 20 incinerators; the second the remaining 52 incinerators. Over the two stages of the study was a statistically significant (P<0.05) decline in risk with distance from incinerators for all cancers combined, stomach, colorectal, liver and lung cancer. Among these cancers in the second stage, the excess from 0 to 1 km ranged from 37% for liver cancer (0.95) excess cases 10(-5) per year to 5% for colorectal cancer. There was evidence of residual confounding near the incinerators, which seems to be a likely explanation of the finding for all cancers, stomach and lung, and also to explain at least part of the excess of liver cancer. For this reason and because of a substantial level of misdiagnosis (mainly secondary tumours) found among registrations and death certificates for liver cancer, further investigation, including histological review of the cases, is to be done to help determine whether or not there is an increase in primary liver cancer in the vicinity of incinerators.

Cadmium and particle‐induced pulmonary carcinogenicity and its significance for combustion aerosols

Cadmium (Cd) as one of the heavy metal compounds in combustion aerosols has been shown to induce both acute and long‐term adverse pulmonary effects when inhaled ranging from inflammation to carcinogenicity; carcinogenicity occurred in mice but not in rats. Likewise, long‐term inhalation of particles such as carbon black, was found to induce lung tumors in rats, but not in mice. With regard to cadmium‐induced pulmonary carcinogenicity it appears that inducibility of metallothionein (MT) in pulmonary epithelial cells plays a major role and that such inducibility is greater in mouse than in rat lung epithelial cells after the same inhaled concentration of Cd. With respect to particles, chronic inflammatory processes may be mechanistically involved in pulmonary carcinogenesis via release and subsequent effects of oxygen‐derived radicals. The particle‐induced pulmonary inflammatory response may also be modified by MT which appears to have oxygen radicals scavenging properties. Differences in inducibility and baseline levels of MT could contribute to the observed different effects in both rodent species after exposure to these airborne toxicants. The necessity for obtaining more mechanistic data at a cellular and molecular level for addressing questions of interspecies extrapolation is stressed. The predicted human lung cancer risk from exposure to Cd or particles in the vicinity of incinerators is very low; however, no data are available to evaluate the aggregate risk from combined exposures to carcinogenic metals and particles.