Cover image for Hazardous waste incineration : evaluating the human health and environmental risks
Title:
Hazardous waste incineration : evaluating the human health and environmental risks
Publication Information:
Boca Raton : Lewis Publishers, c1999
Physical Description:
xii, 351 p. : ill. ; 24 cm.
ISBN:
9781566702508

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30000010250238 RA578.H38 H38 1999 Open Access Book Book
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Summary

Summary

Incineration: no other form of hazardous waste disposal has matched its efficiency at volume reduction, and the permanent destruction of organic wastes.
That convenience may come at a price, as questions and concerns continue to surround the potential human health impacts and ecosystem effects allegedly caused by incineration.
Hazardous Waste Incineration: Evaluating the Human Health and Environmental Risks addresses those concerns by summarizing recent research. Commissioned in part by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, this volume compiles reports and observations from specialists throughout the United States.
Fourteen chapters respond to the key questions posed by the researchers:
What is known about existing hazardous waste incinerators, and their impacts on human health?
Can the impacts of a proposed facility be evaluated before it is built, and if so, how?
What is the regulatory compliance record of existing commercial hazardous waste incinerators?
What methods can be used to monitor a facility's impacts after it is built?
Their response: the most complete treatment of the subject-a timely and controversial topic.


Reviews 1

Choice Review

The incineration of hazardous waste to deal with millions of tons of toxic chemicals generated annually is viewed by proponents as the most desirable option and, simultaneously, as anathema by much of the public. Extending a technical report sponsored by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, this book strives for a balanced and scientific view of the human health and ecological impacts that may result from incineration. Fourteen chapters by 23 contributors address a wide range of topics from a number of perspectives. Particularly excellent summaries are provided for the toxicology of mixtures, environmental and medical monitoring, and epidemiologic studies examining incineration. Other chapters cover fundamentals of incineration, characterization of emissions, ecological risk assessments, uncertainty analysis, and regulatory compliance. Chapters can be read individually as stand-alone units; a few are uneven, e.g., some could stand updating in this fast-moving field, and some are incomplete. Still, this book succeeds at combining theory and practice of risk assessment, giving insight from several accomplished practitioners. The citations and tabular material are useful. Overall, a valuable treatment of many critical topics, accessible to a scientifically literate audience. Upper-division undergraduates through professionals. S. A. Batterman University of Michigan