Are There Health Impacts from Incinerators?

Mortality and morbidity among people living close to incinerators: a cohort study based on dispersion modeling for exposure assessment (12 page pdf, Andrea Ranzi, Valeria Fano, Laura Erspamer, Paolo Lauriola, Carlo A Perucci and Francesco Forastiere, Environmental Health, Mar. 24 , 2011)

 

The advent of incineration or plasma-arc technology to dispose of waste is a growing trend as landfills become full. This in turn becomes a concern when people are exposed to the emissions. Today’s article examines the health threats to people located within a few km of incinerators. The evidence seems to point in this case to no significant mortality threat except from heavy metals which was linked to cancer. Broader questions remain to be answered such as, health impacts from landfills in general, impacts through land, food and water pathways, in addition to the air and, finally, greenhouse gas emissions resulting from incineration.

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