Hazardous Waste Incineration and Human Health

This informative publication provides an introduction to the public health implications of hazardous waste incineration. The complexities involved in defining, measuring, and regulating the nation's hazardous waste are discussed, as well as brief descriptions of the hazardous waste incineration process. Summaries of the data base for the incinerator test burns conducted by or for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are presented, along with a description of the four components of risk analysis, sample calculations of both carcinogenic and noncarcinogenic health risk estimates, and the predictive methodology employed in quantitative risk assessment for hazardous waste incinerators. Also discussed are the risk estimates for exposure to hazardous waste incinerator emissions, inhalation exposure to incinerator stack releases of heavy metals and to polychlorinated biphenyl compounds, and ingestion exposure to incinerated releases through the terrestrial food chain. This book will be of interest to local regulatory officials, incineration facility operators, researchers in the hazardous waste areas, and concerned citizens.