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Waste Incineration and Public Health (2000) / Chapter Skim
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Scope of the Committee's Effort
Pages 12-16

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From page 12...
... Debate over the expected benefits and the potential health risk of waste incineration has led to substantial polarization of opinions with respect to regulatory decisions about incineration facilities. This report, by the Committee on Health Effects of Waste Incineration, of the National Research Council's Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology, addresses scientific and technical aspects of the design and operation of facilities that burn waste, releases of pollutants from such facilities and transport through the environment, possible human health effects of exposure to those pollutants in the environment, and relevant regulatory and sociological considerations.
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From page 13...
... Also, the committee was not asked to develop its own health-risk tolerance levels for incineration facilities. The committee formed to address this charge was composed of persons with expertise in incineration technology, emission characterization, transformations and fate of environmental pollutants, exposure and dose characterization, public health, health risk assessment, sociology, risk perception and risk communication, and law.
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From page 14...
... The committee did not consider the potential health effects on organisms other than humans. In addition, the committee did not consider incineration of waste streams consisting solely of sewage sludge, wood wastes, radioactive waste, or industrial waste that is considered nonhazardous.]
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From page 15...
... It also relates human health risk estimates to issues discussed in Chapters 3 and 4 with respect to various design and operating conditions at wastecombustion facilities. In addition, Chapter 5 identifies important considerations for developing health-based performance criteria to demonstrate that a combustion facility meets and maintains agreed-upon health-risk tolerance levels.
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From page 16...
... The chapter also discusses risk communication about incineration. Chapter 8 addresses important uncertainties involved in assessing possible relationships between exposure to environmental concentrations of pollutants released from waste-incineration facilities and occurrences of human health effects.
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Key Terms

  • waste combustion
  • health risk
  • waste streams
  • health risks
  • potential health

  • pollutants released
  • public debate
  • incineration facilities
  • epidemiologic studies
  • incineration facility

  • public perceptions
  • expected benefits
  • risk estimates
  • burn waste
  • various design

  • operating conditions
  • sociological considerations
  • consisting solely
  • incineration process
  • hazardous chemical

  • expectations regarding
  • finding health
  • facility siting
  • identify various
  • sewage sludge

  • committee conducted
  • comparative health
  • alternatives including
  • convincing evidence
  • environmental studies


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