Estimating Particulate Exposure from Modern Municipal Waste Incinerators in Great Britain
File(s)
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Municipal Waste Incineration (MWI) is regulated through the European Union Directive on Industrial Emissions (IED), but there is ongoing public concern regarding potential hazards to health. Using dispersion modeling, we estimated spatial variability in PM10 concentrations arising from MWIs at postcodes (average 12 households) within 10 km of MWIs in Great Britain (GB) in 2003-2010. We also investigated change points in PM10 emissions in relation to introduction of EU Waste Incineration Directive (EU-WID) (subsequently transposed into IED) and correlations of PM10 with SO2, NOx, heavy metals, polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins/furan (PCDD/F), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) and polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) emissions. Yearly average modeled PM10 concentrations were 1.00 × 10-5 to 5.53 × 10-2 μg m-3, a small contribution to ambient background levels which were typically 6.59-2.68 × 101 μg m-3, 3-5 orders of magnitude higher. While low, concentration surfaces are likely to represent a spatial proxy of other relevant pollutants. There were statistically significant correlations between PM10 and heavy metal compounds (other heavy metals (r = 0.43, p = <0.001)), PAHs (r = 0.20, p = 0.050), and PCBs (r = 0.19, p = 0.022). No clear change points were detected following EU-WID implementation, possibly as incinerators were operating to EU-WID standards before the implementation date. Results will be used in an epidemiological analysis examining potential associations between MWIs and health outcomes.
Date Issued
2017-07-05
Date Acceptance
2017-05-08
Citation
Environmental science & technology, 2017, 51 (13), pp.7511-7519
ISSN
0013-936X
Publisher
American Chemical Society
Start Page
7511
End Page
7519
Journal / Book Title
Environmental science & technology
Volume
51
Issue
13
Copyright Statement
© 2017 American Chemical Society
Sponsor
National Institute for Health Research
Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust- BRC Funding
Medical Research Council (MRC)
Medical Research Council (MRC)
National Institute for Health Research
Public Health England
Identifier
http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85024094435&partnerID=8YFLogxK
Grant Number
NF-SI-0611-10136
RDC01 79560
MR/L01632X/1
MR/L01341X/1
RTJ6219303-1
6509268
Subjects
Environmental Sciences
MD Multidisciplinary
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2017-06-16