Sci Total Environ. 2011 May 1;409(11):2019-28. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2011.02.032. Epub 2011 Mar 21.
Burden of disease attributable to air pollutants from municipal solid waste incinerators in Seoul, Korea: a source-specific approach for environmental burden of disease.
Source
Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, Republic of Korea. kym6706@hanmail.net
Abstract
Few studies have attempted to quantify the integrated health burden, incorporating both mortality and morbidity as these factors pertain to air pollutants, on the population in the vicinity of the incinerators. The aims of this study are to estimate the attributable burden of disease caused by incinerators in Seoul, Korea and to present an approach based on source-specific exposure for the estimation of the environmental burden of disease (EBD). With particular attention on the development of a measurement means of the source-specific, exposure-based population attributable fraction (PAF), we integrated air dispersion modeling, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), the population distribution of exposure, and the exposure-response relationship. We then estimated the PAFs caused by additional concentrations of four air pollutants (PM(10), NO(2,) SO(2), and CO) emitted from four municipal solid waste incinerators (MSWIs) in Seoul in 2007. We, finally, estimated the attributable burden of disease, using the estimated PAF and the disability-adjusted life years (DALY) method developed by the Global Burden of Disease Group of the World Health Organization (WHO). The PAF for NO(2) to all-cause mortality was assessed at approximately 0.02% (95% CI: 0.003-0.036%), which was the highest among all air pollutants. The PAFs for respiratory and cardiovascular disease were 0.12% (95% CI: 0.01-0.16%) and 0.10% (95% CI: 0.04-0.16%), respectively. The sum of the attributable burden of disease for four pollutants was about 297 person-years (PYs) (95% CI: 121-472 PYs) when the incinerators observed to the emission standards. The attributable burdens of respiratory disease and cardiovascular disease were about 0.2% and 0.1%, respectively, of the total burden of respiratory disease and cardiovascular disease of Seoul citizens for the year 2007. Although the air emissions from one risk factor, an incinerator, are small, the burden of disease can be significant to the public health when population exposure is considered.
Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Comment in
PMID:
21420146
[PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]
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Policy makers should take into account the enormous burden of disease caused by toxic chemicals emitted from waste incinerator
Policy makers should regard the enormous burden of disease caused by waste incinerator emissions, 17 Nov 2011
By Pat Costner, Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives
In his letter to the editors of the scientific journal, Science of the Total Environment, Giovanni Ghirga of the International Society of Doctors for Environment warns, “Policy makers responsible for evaluating and managing air polluting sources should take into account the enormous burden of disease caused by toxic chemicals emitted from waste incinerator.”
Dr. Ghirga wrote his letter in response to the recently published study, “Burden of disease attributable to air pollutants from municipal solid waste incinerators in Seoul, Korea: a source-specific approach for environmental burden of disease,” by Kim et al. (2011). He noted that the authors of this study concluded that “the impact of the incinerators on citizens’ health was quite substantial.” However, Dr. Ghirga argued that the impact “could be worse if other important outcomes as subclinical neurotoxicity from lead, cadmium, mercury, antimony, arsenic, chromium, cobalt, copper, manganese, nickel, vanadium, and tin in children, were considered” and pointed to the continuing “silent pandemic of subclinical neurotoxicity described by Grandjean and Landrigan.
Dr. Ghirga also addressed endocrine disruptors, noting “A growing body of evidence suggests that numerous chemicals, emitted also from incinerators, may interfere with the endocrine system and produce adverse effects in humans …” In addition, he said, “For many toxic chemicals emitted from incinerator, i.e. arsenic, an accumulating number of investigations indicate that they affect the epigenetic status of cells and tissues …”
Dr. Kim replied to Dr. Ghirga’s letter, “We agree with Dr. Ghirga’s opinion that it could be worse if other
important outcomes as subclinical neurotoxicity from lead, cadmium, mercury, antimony, arsenic, chromium, cobalt, copper, manganese, nickel, vanadium, and tin in children, were considered,” and concluded, “We point out that policy makers should take into account the enormous burden of disease
caused by toxic chemicals emitted from waste incinerators.”
References
Ghirga, G., 2011. Policy makers should take into account the enormous burden of disease caused by toxic chemicals emitted from waste incinerator. Sci Total Environ 409: 5524.
Grandjean, P., and P. Landrigan, 2006. Developmental neurotoxicity of industrial chemicals. Lancet 16:2167–78.
Kim J., et al., 2011. Burden of disease attributable to air pollutants from municipal solid waste incinerators in Seoul, Korea: a source-specific approach for environmental burden of disease. Sci Total Environ 409: 2019–28.
Kim, Y.-M., 2011. Response to the letter to editor by Dr. Giovanni Ghirga commenting on ‘the burden of disease caused by toxic chemicals emitted from waste incinerator’. Sci Total Environ 409: 5525-6.