Waste Incineration & Public Health

Incineration has been used widely for waste disposal, including household, hazardous, and medical waste--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 health--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.

• Front Matter
• Executive Summary
• Scope of the Committee's Effort
• Waste Incineration Overview
• Incineration Processes and Environmental Releases
• Environmental Transport and Exposure Pathways of Substances Emitted from Incineration Facilities
• Understanding Health Effects of Incineration
• Regulation Related to Waste Incineration
• Social Issues and Community Interactions
• Uncertainty and Variability
• References
• Appendix A: Biographical Information on the Committee on Health Effects of Waste Incineration
• Appendix B: Off-Normal Operations of Six Facilities
• List of Abbreviations
• Index