Scientists from the MRC PHE Centre for Environment and Health have been working to understand the air pollution impacts of modern municipal waste incinerators in England and Wales. These modern incinerators have to conform to the latest EU standards. Tests for heavy metals from incinerator chimneys were used to develop pollution finger-prints to detect incinerator pollution when it reached the ground and to tease this apart from other pollution sources such as traffic. Working with the National Physical Laboratory, ambient measurements were made at six monitoring locations within 10 km from waste incinerators. The team did not detect incinerator emissions at four locations. Pollution consistent with incinerators emissions was detected around two incinerators but overall the PM10 particle pollution from these incinerators was very small; around 1/100th to 1/1000th of the particle pollution from all other sources.

The paper can be downloaded here.

The work was funded by Public Health England and forms part of the study of the potential reproductive and other health effects associated with Municipal Waste Incinerators in England, Scotland and Wales.

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Item date 11/06/2015