Document 71DBz7mZ1gyVRaY2vqeoOgMej

RACHEL'S HAZARDOUS WASTE NEWS #179 Providing news and resources to the Movement for Environmental Justice -- May 2, 1990 MEDICAL INCINERATORS EMIT DANGEROUS METALS AND DIOXIN, NEW STUDY SAYS Medical waste incinerators are a major source of toxic air emissions, especially dioxin and cadmium, according to a lengthy study just released by the California Air Resources Board (CARB), a state agency. [Page numbers in our text (below) refer to pages in this new study, which is cited in our nextto-last paragraph.] The study says the public health risks from breathing these emissions are unacceptably high. On May ^3, the CARB will pro pose new air pollution controls on California's medi cal incinerators; CARB predicts the new rules will force 129 of the state's 142 incinerators to cease operation because compliance will be too costly. Dioxin The CARB studied dioxin in 1986 and declared it "highly toxic" in experimental animals. Toxic effects in animals include severe weight loss, liver necrosis [death of tissue] and hypertrophy [enlargement], skin lesions, immunosuppression, reproductive toxicity, teratogenesis [birth defects], carcinogenesis [cancer] and death. The CARB concluded that dioxin is an animal carcinogen and a "potential human carcino gen." They also reported that both acute (short term) and chronic (long-term) exposure to dioxin has caused liver damage in humans (pg. 10). Cadmium Chronic exposure to cadmium, a toxic metal, causes a wide range of adverse effects in humans, including "cardiovascular [heart, arteries], endocrine [hormone], hepatic-' [liver], bone, hematological [blood], immunological [immune system], respiratory [lung], renal [kidney], reproductive and teratogenic [birth defect] effects." Furthermore, There is strong evidence of an association between cadmium expo sure and an increased risk of respiratory [lung] can cer," says the CARB report (pg. 18). California has 142 medical waste incinerators operating today. Together, they burn 20,050 tons of wastes per year, so they are not large. (For ex ample, a big municipal waste incinerator burns this much waste every 10 days.) Medical waste inclu des paper, cardboard, plastic, rubber, food wastes, cans, bottles, animal carcasses, sharps [hypodermic needles, scalpels, etc.], chemotherapy wastes, dia pers, bandages, solvents, and pathological wastes [body parts, bed pan residues, and so forth]. Medi cal waste also contains metals such as lead, cad mium, mercury, and zinc; it can also contain lowlevel radioactivity (pg. 34). Despite their relatively small size, California's 142 medwaste incinerators emit substantial quan tities of dioxins and cadmium: 16 grams of dioxin each year (pg. 31) and 30 to 40 pounds of cadmi um (pg. 33) each year. To gather emissions data, the CARB monitored eight medwaste incinerators. The report notes that, "Although the emissions tests were not conducted for compliance purposes, we observed that many of the facilities tested could not meet the particulate limitations in their permits. In addition, the hydro chloric acid emissions were elevated...." (pg. 48) The eight emissions tests revealed many other air contaminants emitted by one or more of the incinerators. Here is a list of pollutants emitted, followed by the number (1 to 8) of incinerators, out of 8 tested, found to be emitting each pollutant: arsenic (7); ammonia (1); benzene (8); bromodichioromethane (2); cadmium (8); carbon tetrachloride (6); chromium (7); chlorodibromomethane (3); chlor oform (4); cumene (5); 1,2-dibromoethane (5); dichloromethane (6); dichloroethane (3); dioxins and furans (8); ethyl benzene (7); lead -(8); mercury (5); mesitylene (7); nickel (3); particulate matter (8); naphthalene (5); tetrachloroethane (4); toluene (7); trichloroethane (3); 1,1,1-trichloroethane (6); trichlor oethylene (6); trichloromethane (5); vinyl chloride (2); xylenes (7) (pg. 51). The CARB study indicates that it will cost from $383,000 to $479,000 to put best available control air pollution control technology (BACT) (a spray dryer [also called a dry scrubber] and baghouse filter) on an existing large, regional medwaste in cinerators (pg. 115), of which California has 12. According to the CARB's data, small medwaste incinerators serving an individual institution will not be able to afford to install air pollution equipment that would allow continued operation of the incinera tor after the new dioxin and cadmium regulations become effective this summer. For these 129 in cinerators, the available alternatives include (a) shut down and use a large, regional medwaste incinera tor; (b) shut down and use off-site steam steriliza- coooso ! lion; (c) shut down and use onsite steam steriliza tion. municipal wastes and infectious wastes. Plastics make up 3% to 7% of municipal waste, but 14% to Steam sterilization (also called' autoclaving) 30% of infectious waste. Because plastics are the | means heating the wastes in a metal chamber by major sources of cadmium and lead, medical waste filling the chamber with saturated steam and holding incinerators emit more of these toxic metals, per : the temperature at 250 Fahrenheit for 30 minutes. pound of burned waste, than do municipal incinera : It effectively sterilizes wastes, killing viruses and tors. , I bacteria. The wastes then go to a landfill. Of these Lead is present as a pigment and as a stiffening i three options, the cheapest is onsite sterilization; and strengthening agent in many plastic items, esp { this option would increase medwaste disposal costs. ecially those made of PVC (polyvinyl chloride). For | 10 cents per pound, and would increase patient example, the red bags themselves, in which "red | costs 16 cents per hospital bed per day, compared bag" medical wastes are packaged, is colored red l to present costs of onsite incineration. The use of by a lead compound. Lead is also present in yellow ! offsite, regional incineration would' increase disposal bags for collecting soiled linens, yellow bedpans, costs 16 cents per pound and would increase aver and yellow tops of urine containers. In plastics, a age patient costs 41 cents per bed per day. Onsite bright color (yellow, orange, red, purple) is often an steam sterilization would increase disposal costs 16 indication of a toxic metal (cadmium or lead). cents per pound and would increase patient costs The Davis researchers didn't say so, but hos 42 cents per bed per day. Thus, shutting down its pitals could refuse to purchase medical supplies ; incinerator and sending wastes out for regional made with toxic metals, thus minimizing problems. ' 1 steam sterilization is the cheapest way for a hospital Get: DRAFT Technical Support Document to : to come into compliance with the proposed Cali- Proposed Dioxins and Cadmium Control Measure for ] fornia air regulations for cadmium arid dioxin (pg. Medical Waste Incinerators (Sacramento, CA: Air 118). Resources Board [1102 Q St., P.O. Box 2815, Sac A different study of medical wastes, by members ramento, CA 95812], 1990. Phone Information | of the Civil Engineering Department of University of Officer Jerry Martin at (916) 322-2990. This docu i California at Davis (cited below in our last para- ment is about 500 pages long, contains a great deal graph), points out that, in a typical hospital, infec- of useful information on medical waste incineration, ! tious waste makes up only about 15% of the total and is free while supplies last ! waste stream. Infectious waste by itself will burn, Also get: D.C. Hickman, D.P.Y. Chang, and H. I but the volume is usually not sufficient to allow heat Glasser, "Cadmium, and Lead in Bio-Medical Waste | recovery. Therefore, the decision to install an in- Incinerators," a paper presented at the 82nd Annual ! cinerator for infectious waste encourages the burning Meeting of the Air and Waste Management Associa ; of other non-infectious wastes. In effect, a med- tion at Anaheim, CA, June 25-30, 1989; available | waste incinerator is a municipal solid waste incinera- free from Dan Chang, Department of Civil Engineer ! tor with 15% of the waste being infectious, ing, Mail ID# 1855, University of California at Davis, i There are, however, a few differences between Davis, CA 95616. ---------------------------------------------------------------- v:-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Rachel's Hazardous Waste News is published weekly by Environmental Research Foundation, P.O. Box 3541, Princeton, NJ 08543. ,Editor Peter Montague, Ph.U rAssociate Editor Maria B. 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