Comparative assessment of particulate air pollution exposure from municipal solid waste incinerator emissions.
BACKGROUND
Research to date on health effects associated with incineration has found limited evidence of health risks, but many previous studies have been constrained by poor exposure assessment. This paper provides a comparative assessment of atmospheric dispersion modelling and distance from source (a commonly used proxy for exposure) as exposure assessment methods for pollutants released from incinerators.


METHODS
Distance from source and the atmospheric dispersion model ADMS-Urban were used to characterise ambient exposures to particulates from two municipal solid waste incinerators (MSWIs) in the UK. Additionally an exploration of the sensitivity of the dispersion model simulations to input parameters was performed.


RESULTS
The model output indicated extremely low ground level concentrations of PM10, with maximum concentrations of <0.01 μ g/m(3). Proximity and modelled PM10 concentrations for both MSWIs at postcode level were highly correlated when using continuous measures (Spearman correlation coefficients ~ 0.7) but showed poor agreement for categorical measures (deciles or quintiles, Cohen's kappa coefficients ≤ 0.5).


CONCLUSIONS
To provide the most appropriate estimate of ambient exposure from MSWIs, it is essential that incinerator characteristics, magnitude of emissions, and surrounding meteorological and topographical conditions are considered. Reducing exposure misclassification is particularly important in environmental epidemiology to aid detection of low-level risks.
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, MRC-PHE Centre for Environment and Health, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London, St Mary's Campus, Norfolk Place, London W2 1PG, UK.
Danielle C
DC
Ashworth
Gary W
GW
Fuller
Mireille B
MB
Toledano
Anna
A
Font
Paul
P
Elliott
Anna L
AL
Hansell
Kees
K
de Hoogh
D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D004739:England; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D017745:Incineration; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D052638:Particulate Matter / Q000032:analysis*; D062611:Solid Waste / Q000032:analysis; D014852:Wales; D014887:Weather
D000393:Air Pollutants; D052638:Particulate Matter; D062611:Solid Waste