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.

The disposal of large quantities of municipal solid waste (MSW) being generated by industrialized countries has become a serious problem. Since it is estimated that within 10 years, half of all municipalities will lack sufficient landfill space, many cities are considering municipal waste combustion as an alternative waste management option.\ Municipal waste combustors have been a source of contention in many local communities and a growing research topic in the scientific community. This book represents a compilation of chapters written by experienced individuals in the areas ofemissions estimation, deposition modeling, risk assessment, indirect exposures, and uncertainty analysis. Estimation of potential human risks associated with pollutants has become an increasing concern. Most often, values required for deposition rates and annual atmospheric concentrations are estimated through the useofatmospheric dispersion models. Chapter 1compares data on the tlatterrain versus the complex terrain dispersion models such as the U.S. EPA Industrial Source Complex Short Term (ISCST) and Long Term (lSCLT). Chapter 2 focuses on the modeling of atmospheric dispersion and dry deposition of fine particulates. A specific size particle (10-20 urn) is used because of its relevance to municipal waste facilities since best available control technology effectively removes particulates above this size range. The deposition ofmaterials from the atmosphere is a critical link in the pathway by which toxic atmospheric pollutants are transported to the surface of food chain components. Chapter 3 describes the importance accounting for wet deposition in risk assessments of municipal waste incinerators.

This much-needed book provides an enlightening perspective on the environmental and human health impacts of municipal solid waste (MSW) incineration. Over 100 tables and figures allows speedy access to important data you will refer to again and again. The comprehensive text assesses the human health risks associated with exposure to facility emitted pollutants-especially the highly toxic dioxin. It includes an evaluation of multipathway (inhalation and food chain) exposures. This essential publication also evaluates facility emissions, plausible air concentrations, the potential for deposition of pollutants onto plant, soil, and water surfaces, the movement and accumulation of pollutants through environmental media, and the potential for human exposure. Health Effects of Municipal Waste Incineration is an up-to-date volume which encourages readers to formulate opinions about some of the fundamental issues affecting the management of municipal solid waste. Anyone involved with environmental science, hazardous waste, toxicology, risk analysis and/or environmental engineering will certainly value and utilize this well-written resource.

This is the second edition of the WHO handbook on the safe, sustainable and affordable management of health-care waste--commonly known as "the Blue Book". The original Blue Book was a comprehensive publication used widely in health-care centers and government agencies to assist in the adoption of national guidance. It also provided support to committed medical directors and managers to make improvements and presented practical information on waste-management techniques for medical staff and waste workers. It has been more than ten years since the first edition of the Blue Book. During the intervening period, the requirements on generators of health-care wastes have evolved and new methods have become available. Consequently, WHO recognized that it was an appropriate time to update the original text. The purpose of the second edition is to expand and update the practical information in the original Blue Book. The new Blue Book is designed to continue to be a source of impartial health-care information and guidance on safe waste-management practices. The editors' intention has been to keep the best of the original publication and supplement it with the latest relevant information. The audience for the Blue Book has expanded. Initially, the publication was intended for those directly involved in the creation and handling of health-care wastes: medical staff, health-care facility directors, ancillary health workers, infection-control officers and waste workers. This is no longer the situation. A wider range of people and organizations now have an active interest in the safe management of health-care wastes: regulators, policy-makers, development organizations, voluntary groups, environmental bodies, environmental health practitioners, advisers, researchers and students. They should also find the new Blue Book of benefit to their activities. Chapters 2 and 3 explain the various types of waste produced from health-care facilities, their typical characteristics and the hazards these wastes pose to patients, staff and the general environment. Chapters 4 and 5 introduce the guiding regulatory principles for developing local or national approaches to tackling health-care waste management and transposing these into practical plans for regions and individual health-care facilities. Specific methods and technologies are described for waste minimization, segregation and treatment of health-care wastes in Chapters 6, 7 and 8. These chapters introduce the basic features of each technology and the operational and environmental characteristics required to be achieved, followed by information on the potential advantages and disadvantages of each system. To reflect concerns about the difficulties of handling health-care wastewaters, Chapter 9 is an expanded chapter with new guidance on the various sources of wastewater and wastewater treatment options for places not connected to central sewerage systems. Further chapters address issues on economics (Chapter 10), occupational safety (Chapter 11), hygiene and infection control (Chapter 12), and staff training and public awareness (Chapter 13). A wider range of information has been incorporated into this edition of the Blue Book, with the addition of two new chapters on health-care waste management in emergencies (Chapter 14) and an overview of the emerging issues of pandemics, drug-resistant pathogens, climate change and technology advances in medical techniques that will have to be accommodated by health-care waste systems in the future (Chapter 15).

Ever increasing amounts of solid waste and dwindling space for disposal is a problem reaching crisis level in many of the world's largest urban areas. Incineration as an alternative to landfill has come under scrutiny, though the capital and operating costs generally exceed those associated with landfill. This report provides background information for the "Decision-maker' guide to municipal solid waste (MSW) incineration". Key criteria for a solid waste incineration scheme are identified, and the report gives decision makers information on how to investigate and assess the degree to which they are fulfilled.

This text covers a broad spectrum of topics pertinent to the management of incinerator residues. Background information includes a history of incineration, and the influence of municipal waste composition, incinerator type air pollution control technologies on residue quality. Physical, chemical and leaching characteristics for the various ash streams are described, along with recommended sampling and evaluation methodologies. Residue handling and management options, including, treatment utilisation and disposal are also discussed in detail.