Skip Navigation


Journal of Public Health Advance Access originally published online on July 25, 2006
Journal of Public Health 2006 28(3):261-266; doi:10.1093/pubmed/fdl037
This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
28/3/261    most recent
fdl037v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (1)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Roberts, R. J.
Right arrow Articles by Chen, M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Roberts, R. J.
Right arrow Articles by Chen, M.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2006, Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Faculty of Public Health. All rights reserved.

Waste incineration—how big is the health risk? A quantitative method to allow comparison with other health risks



Richard J. Roberts, Consultant in Public Health1

Mengfang Chen, Principal Consultant in Quantitative Risk Assessment2
1 National Public Health Service for Wales, Abton House, Wedal Road, Cardiff, CF14 3QX, UK
2 Capita Symonds, Wood Street, East Grinstead, West Sussex, RH19 1UU, UK

Address correspondence to Richard J. Roberts, E-mail: richard.roberts{at}nphs.wales.nhs.uk

Objective To assess the health risk from a medium-sized waste incinerator and develop a single comparable figure to quantify overall risk.

Method We used a prospective health risk assessment utilizing US Environmental Protection Agency Human Health Risk Assessment Protocol (HHRAP) for Hazardous Waste Combustion Facilities and UK coefficients for the impact of sulphur dioxide and particulates. Calculations were based on a resident population of 25,398 living within 5.5 km of the site.

Results Anxiety, employment, noise, occupational risks, road accidents, and reduced use of landfill were all considered to have a potential, but unquantifiable, effect on health. Stack emissions over 25 years in a population of 25,398 within 5.5 km of the stack would result in an additional 0.018 cancers, 0.46 deaths brought forward due to sulphur dioxide and 0.02 deaths due to fine particles. The overall risk of dying due to emissions in any one year was 2.49 x 10–7 or 1 in 4 million.

Conclusion To facilitate better public understanding of the comparative risk of incinerator emissions, we propose a simple method of deriving a single annual risk figure allowing comparison with the risk of dying from other causes with which the public is more familiar.

Keywords: air pollutants, dioxins, environmental exposure, environmental pollution, incineration, risk assessment, mortality, population, public health, Wales


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.