Waste Incineration and Public Health


Book Description

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.




Hazardous Air Emissions from Incineration


Book Description

This is a comprehensive handbook on the relationship of air pollution to incineration. Incineration is becoming the predominant method of dealing with many of our waste products and its most significant envi ronmental impact is on the air. This book includes information on emissions as well as on equipment design. Two chapters deal with the regulations governing incinerator emissions as well as the thermal destruction of hazardous wastes. Four chapters describe the nature of the emissions generated by the incin eration process. These particulate, gaseous, and odor emissions, are hazardous as well as deleterious to public well-being and aesthetics. Also included is a complete and timely discussion of dioxin generation and discharges. Three chapters describe the incineration equipment in general use today and methods of calculating gas flows and air discharges from these systems. Five chapters discuss the types of gas cleaning equipment available with sizing information and expected efficiencies. The nature of the gas cleaning process is discussed in detail. Criteria for selection of the opti mum system for a particular application is also included. The dispersion of an atmospheric discharge to the surrounding areas and/or communities is a vital concern in assessing the nature of that discharge and its impact, or potential hazards. A chapter is devoted to a relative simple method of estimating atmospheric dispersion.




Hazardous Waste Incineration


Book Description

A comprehensive guide to the design, selection, and operation of incineration systems for hazardous waste. Table of Contents: Introduction; Incinerator Regulations; Boiler and Industrial Furnance Regulations; Rotary Kiln Incineration Systems; Liquid Waste Incineration; Waste Sludge Incineration; Site Clean-up; Waste Destruction in Industrial Processes; Incineration at Sea--European Technology; Materials Handlings; Emission Generation; Air Emissions Control Systems; Acid Gas Control; Heating Valve Determination; Incinerator Calculations; Systems Calculation; Metric Calculations; Energy Recovery; Appendices; Glossary; Index. Illustrations.







WHO Guidelines for Indoor Air Quality


Book Description

This book presents WHO guidelines for the protection of public health from risks due to a number of chemicals commonly present in indoor air. The substances considered in this review, i.e. benzene, carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, naphthalene, nitrogen dioxide, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (especially benzo[a]pyrene), radon, trichloroethylene and tetrachloroethylene, have indoor sources, are known in respect of their hazardousness to health and are often found indoors in concentrations of health concern. The guidelines are targeted at public health professionals involved in preventing health risks of environmental exposures, as well as specialists and authorities involved in the design and use of buildings, indoor materials and products. They provide a scientific basis for legally enforceable standards.




Carbon Filtration for Reducing Emissions from Chemical Agent Incineration


Book Description

This report reviews the Army's evaluation of carbon filters for use in the baseline incineration PAS, as well as the Army's change management process (the Army's tool for evaluating major equipment and operational changes to disposal facilities). In preparing this report, members of the Stockpile Committee evaluated exhaust gas emissions testing at the two operating baseline incineration systems, JACADS and the TOCDF; evaluated the development of the dilute SOPC carbon filter simulation model; and evaluated the conceptual design of a modified PAS with an activated carbon filter. The two major risk assessments conducted for each continental disposal site that use the baseline system, namely, (1) the quantitative risk assessment, which evaluates the risks and consequences of accidental agent releases, and (2) the health risk assessment, which evaluates the potential effects of nonagent emissions on human health and the environment, were also examined.




Combustion and Incineration Processes


Book Description

Covering each aspect of an incineration facility, from contaminant receipt and storage to stack discharge and dispersion, this reference explores the operation and evaluation of incineration systems for hazardous and non-hazardous gaseous, liquid, sludge, and solid wastes. Highlighting breakthroughs in air pollution control, the book discusses advances in materials handling, waste processing, refractory and materials engineering, combustion technology, and energy recovery to reduce and control toxins and pollutants in the environment. It includes a disk containing spreadsheets for practical analyses of waste characteristics and combustion systems.




Long-Term Health Consequences of Exposure to Burn Pits in Iraq and Afghanistan


Book Description

Many veterans returning from the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan have health problems they believe are related to their exposure to the smoke from the burning of waste in open-air "burn pits" on military bases. Particular controversy surrounds the burn pit used to dispose of solid waste at Joint Base Balad in Iraq, which burned up to 200 tons of waste per day in 2007. The Department of Veterans Affairs asked the IOM to form a committee to determine the long-term health effects from exposure to these burn pits. Insufficient evidence prevented the IOM committee from developing firm conclusions. This report, therefore, recommends that, along with more efficient data-gathering methods, a study be conducted that would evaluate the health status of service members from their time of deployment over many years to determine their incidence of chronic diseases.




The Inside Story


Book Description