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.