The food chain as a source of human exposure from municipal waste combustion: An uncertainty analysis

Conference · Sun Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1989

OSTI ID:5358075

Belcher, G D; Travis, C C; Bruins, R J.F. ^[1]

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1. Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (USA)

The current installed incineration capacity of municipal waste combustors (MWCs) in the United States has reached approximately 50 thousand tons per day and is projected to triple over the next decade. As the use of MWCs as a waste management alternative has increased, public concern over possible environmental and human health effects has also increased. Of particular concern are health risks associated with potential exposures through the food chain. The food chain is the primary pathway of human exposure for a large class of organics, such as dioxin, PCBs, DDT, and other pesticides. Because many pollutants emitted by MWCs are lipophilic, extremely persistent compounds, they tend to sorb strong to air particles, soil, and sediment and to bioaccumulate in living organisms. As a result, the food chain can be a major pathway of exposure to pollutants emitted by MWCs. It is the purpose of this paper to assess the magnitude of human exposure through the food chain for two pollutants released by MWCs: cadmium and 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD), commonly referred to as dioxin. These pollutants were chosen as representative of two chemical classes: metals and organics. Cadmium is a metal which presumably will enter the food chain primarily through vegetative root uptake, while dioxin is an extremely lipophilic compound which will bioconcentrate in beef and milk. 57 refs., 7 figs., 14 tabs.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (USA)
• Sponsoring Organization: EPA
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-84OR21400
• OSTI ID: 5358075
• Report Number(s): CONF-8906180-3; ON: DE90003671
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

560300* -- Chemicals Metabolism & Toxicology
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
BIOLOGICAL ACCUMULATION
CADMIUM
COMBUSTION PRODUCTS
CONTAMINATION
DIOXIN
ELEMENTS
FOOD
FOOD CHAINS
HAZARDS
HEALTH HAZARDS
HETEROCYCLIC COMPOUNDS
INCINERATORS
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
MEAT
METALS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PLANTS
RISK ASSESSMENT
USES