This book is the first volume in a three-volume set on Solid Waste Engineering and Management. It provides an introduction to the topic, and focuses on legislation, transportation, transfer station, characterization, mechanical volume reduction, measurement, combustion, incineration, composting, landfilling, and systems planning as it pertains to solid waste management. The three volumes comprehensively discuss various contemporary issues associated with solid waste pollution management, impacts on the environment and vulnerable human populations, and solutions to these problems.

Incineration has been used widely for waste disposal, including household, hazardous, and medical wasteâ€"but there is increasing public concern over the benefits of combusting the waste versus the health risk from pollutants emitted during combustion. Waste Incineration and Public Health informs the emerging debate with the most up-to-date information available on incineration, pollution, and human healthâ€"along with expert conclusions and recommendations for further research and improvement of such areas as risk communication. The committee provides details on: Processes involved in incineration and how contaminants are released. Environmental dynamics of contaminants and routes of human exposure. Tools and approaches for assessing possible human health effects. Scientific concerns pertinent to future regulatory actions. The book also examines some of the social, psychological, and economic factors that affect the communities where incineration takes place and addresses the problem of uncertainty and variation in predicting the health effects of incineration processes.