Risk assessment on Hämeenkyrö municipal solid waste incinerator
Risk assessment on Hämeenkyrö municipal solid waste incinerator contains a structured risk assessment of a plan to build a MSWI in Hämeenkyrö. There will be a public vote related to a city planning decision: whether the municipality should plan an area for the plant or not. The vote will be held in November 19, 2006.
Contents
Objective
Focus: | Health risk assessment related to the effects of the planned MSWI plant in Hämeenkyrö. (draft) D↷ |
Scope: | Health of the population in Hämeenkyrö especially, and in Southern Finland in general. Time scope: next 20 years (draft)D↷ |
Description: | |
Inputs: | |
Index: | |
Definition: | |
Unit: | |
Result: | |
References: |
Empty variable template
Focus: | |
Scope: | |
Description: | |
Inputs: | |
Index: | |
Definition: | |
Unit: | |
Result: | |
References: |
General variables
Focus: | |
Scope: | |
Description: | Optimizing rules, general (disagreement)
|
Inputs: | |
Index: | |
Definition: | |
Unit: | |
Result: | |
References: |
- Precautionary principle (disagreement)
- PP based on expected value, general
- PP based on worst-case or another 'conservative' scenario, general
- PP applied to emissions of municipal solid wasti incinerator (MSWI) in Hämeenkyrö
- Intake fraction (disambiguation)
- iF based on measured concentration fields
- iF based on exposure monitoring
- iF based on shortcuts
Fine particle variables
PM2.5 emissions in Hämeenkyrö
Päivi
Focus: | Existing PM2.5 emissions from all the sources in Hämeenkyrö. |
Scope: | Annual emissions. Emissions from the sources in Hämeenkyrö municipality area only. |
Description: | PM2.5 means particles with diameter less than 2,5 µm. Generally the most important sources of these fine particles are domestic combustion and traffic. This is most likely the situation also in Hämeenkyrö which is a town of 10200 inhabitants. Industries and energy production are also important sources. There are some quite large industries and power plants (e.g. M-Real Kyro cardboard factory, Finnforest Oyj sawmill and Kyro gas power plant) that also cause fine particle emissions. |
Inputs: | Baseline PM2.5 exposure in Hämeenkyrö, Well-being of the population (smells, comfort, noise) |
Index: | |
Definition: | |
Unit: | tonnes/year |
Result: | The sum of the emissions from all the sources (trying to find some numbers here) |
References: | www.hameenkyro.fi |
PM2.5 emissions from MSWI, biofuel plant, and natural gas plant in Hämeenkyrö
Tommi
Focus: | Gives PM2.5 emissions for the three power plants according to their actual/planned production |
Scope: | Annual PM2.5 emissions for each power plant. |
Description: | This variable gives the PM2.5 emissions separately for each of the three power plant options to be considered in the Hämeenkyrö case. The emissions are calculated based on annual activities and exact technical configurations of the power plants. The technical data are entered in the FIRE (Factor Information Retrieval) software of the US EPA to obtain Emission Estimation Factors. The annual amounts of activity (in e.g. MWh/a or MSW burned/a) are then multiplied by the EF to get annual emissions from each plant. Note: This formulation leaves room for experimenting with adjustments in the power plants (e.g. if the amount of waste burned increases). Alternatively we can just use predetermined values and calculate one single annual emission figure for each plant. |
Inputs: | Planned or projected activities for each power plant and exact technical configurations of the plants. No such variables are considered in this excercise but the connections are included in the master model. If these values are fixed, these factors can be included in the calculation of this present variable. |
Index: | |
Definition: | |
Unit: | t a-1 |
Result: | |
References: | http://www.epa.gov/ttn/chief/eiip/pm25inventory/concepts.html Here you can find and install the FIRE software among other things. |
Baseline PM2.5 exposure in Hämeenkyrö
Anne K
Focus: | |
Scope: | |
Description: | |
Inputs: | |
Index: | |
Definition: | |
Unit: | |
Result: | |
References: |
PM2.5 exposure due to MSWI in Hämeenkyrö
Terhi Y
Focus: | Describes the variables affecting the personal exposure to MSWI-produced PM2.5 (and links the exposure to dose) |
Scope: | Exact numerical values would require knowledge of the meteorological, geographical etc. data of Hämeenkyrö area and extensive modeling so not included here; certain concentration assumed and dose calculated from it |
Description: | Data needed to evaluate the personal exposure
Also required: the background concentration. Some values available for comparison: Urban US highest PM2.5 concs 20-30 mikrog/m3, concentration in Helsinki over several years 8-11 mikrog/m3, non-urban US concs 1-6 mikrog/m3 (Koistinen 2002). Thus, small Finnish town: maybe 7 mikrog/m3? |
Inputs: | |
Index: | |
Definition: | D = ((IR)(P)(RF)(ET)(EF)(ED))/(BW)(AT) where
D = dose (mg/kg.day) IR = inhalation rate (m3/h) P = particle concentration in air (mg/m3) RF = respirable fraction of particles (dimensioless) ET = exposure time (hours/day) EF = exposure frequency (days/year) ED = exposure duration (years) BW = body weight (kg) AT = averaging time (days)(Schwela ym. 2002) |
Unit: | |
Result: | |
References: | List of references does not include articles referred to within the reference...
|
PM2.5 exposure-response function on population level
Sari
Focus: | |
Scope: | |
Description: | |
Inputs: | |
Index: | |
Definition: | |
Unit: | |
Result: | |
References: |
Dioxin variables
Dioxin emissions in Hämeenkyrö
Virpi
Focus: | |
Scope: | |
Description: | |
Inputs: | |
Index: | |
Definition: | |
Unit: | |
Result: | |
References: |
Baseline dioxin exposure in Hämeenkyrö
Marjo
Focus: | Baseline dioxin exposure in Hämeenkyrö inhabitants |
Scope: | The daily intake and the adipose tissue concentration of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins, dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) and biphenyls (PCBs) in Hämeenkyrö population |
Description: | Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs, "dioxins") are ubiquitously present, stable and persistent environmental contaminants. They are fat soluble and thus tend to bioaccumulate in tissue lipid and in the food chain. More than 90 % of the average human intake of dioxins originates from food, especially food of animal origin. In Finland the main source is fish, whose contribution is 72-94 % of the total PCDD/F intake via food.
Here we will use the daily PCDD/F intake estimated for the Finnish population in average as a starting point. In addition, the other variable in this model, "Dioxin emissions in Hämeenkyrö", may affect the estimate of baseline dioxin exposure in Hämeenkyrö. For the adipose tissue PCDD/F concentration the value estimated for the general population living in Finnish inland is used. It is noteworthy, that some subgroups within society, such as nursing babies and people consuming lot of fish may be more highly exposed to dioxins than the average people. PCBs, another group of persistent environmental contaminants, were included as they behave similarly in the food chain and have partly similar health effects as dioxins. |
Inputs: | Dioxin emissions in Hämeenkyrö |
Index: | |
Definition: | |
Unit: | 1) Daily intake: WHO-TEQ pg/kg body weight
2) Adipose tissue concentration: WHO-TEQ pg/g fat |
Result: | Average daily intake of PCDD/Fs 0.79 pg/kg bw
Average daily intake of PCBs 0.74 pg/kg bw Average adipose tissue PCDD/F concentration 26.4 pg/g Average adipose tissue PCB concentration 18.1 pg/g Note: During the nursing period, the PCDD/F intake of a child can be 1-2 orders of magnitude higher than that of an adult. |
References: | Holtta P, Kiviranta H, Leppaniemi A, Vartiainen T, Lukinmaa PL, Alaluusua S. Developmental dental defects in children who reside by a river polluted by dioxins and furans. Arch Environ Health. 2001 Nov-Dec;56(6):522-8.
Kiviranta H, Ovaskainen ML, Vartiainen T. Market basket study on dietary intake of PCDD/Fs, PCBs, and PBDEs in Finland. Environ Int. 2004 Sep;30(7):923-32. Kiviranta H, Tuomisto JT, Tuomisto J, Tukiainen E, Vartiainen T. Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins, dibenzofurans, and biphenyls in the general population in Finland. Chemosphere. 2005 Aug;60(7):854-69. Tuomisto et al. 1999. Synopsis on dioxins and PCBs. Publications of the National Public Health Institute B17/1999. |
Dioxin exposure due to MSWI in Hämeenkyrö
Martin
Focus: | |
Scope: | |
Description: | |
Inputs: | |
Index: | |
Definition: | |
Unit: | |
Result: | |
References: |
Dioxin exposure-response function on population level
Sanna
Focus: | Determine health effects caused by dioxin exposure |
Scope: | Dioxins are persistent environmental contaminants which accumulate and their
elimination half life in the body is rather high (~7 years). In the exposure low doses and high doses cause totally indifferent effects. Most probable exposures for humans from MSWI are low dioxin exposures for a long period of time, which may affect the population "background exposure levels" by increasing them. The most susceptible subgroups among human population are children and young females (women at the childbearing age and before) in addition to the subgroups in the occupational hazard or those who may get high exposures via the food (fishermen). |
Description: | - In this specific case it is relevant to think about health effects of
long-term exposure on human population (see var. 'Health effects of dioxins and PM2.5). Also the risk of accidental exposure is low; only if the burning process is working improperly the amount of dioxins emissions will increase. - dioxins are classified as known human carcinogen by IARC; data exist which supports the hypothesis of hormesis type of dose-responses (Tuomisto et al., 2004) in cancer - Effects on development and endocrine functions are of more concern than cancer |
Inputs: | -Dioxin emissions and in Hämeenkyrö
-population; susceptible groups, demographic data -baseline exposure level of the population |
Index: | |
Definition: | |
Unit: | increased risk for developmental defects/ pg/kg body weight/ year,
increased lifetime risk per pg/kg body weight OR risk / adipose tissue concentration |
Result: | the most sensitive endpoints are developmental defects: according the
animal data TDI is set in a range of 1-4 pg TEQs/kg bodyweight/day |
References: | Tuomisto JT et al. Int J Cancer. 2004 Mar 1;108(6):893-900.
Tuomisto et al. 1999. Synopsis on dioxins and PCBs. Publications of the National Public Health Institute B17/1999. van Leeuwen FX et.al. Chemosphere. 2000 May-Jun;40(9-11):1095-101. |
Indicator variables
- Decisions related to Hämeenkyrö case
- Possible indicators (optimising variables) in Hämeenkyrö
Well-being of the population (smells, comfort, noise)
Kari Auri
Focus: | Factors or issues affecting peoples living comfortability in Hämeenkyrö. |
Scope: | The basic factors, like a noise, smell, social factors, etc., that affect the comfortability of inhabitants in Hämeenkyrö. Some of these factors can be measured and some are based on a experience and/or common beliefs and thoughts of inhabitants in Hämeenkyrö, like in other places where the municipal solid waste incinerator have been planned earlier (in Viljakkala). |
Description: | 1.The noise:
2. The smell:
3. The social factors:
4. Landscape:
5. Other things that will not occur with the municipal solid waste incinerator:
|
Inputs: | |
Index: | |
Definition: | |
Unit: | |
Result: | |
References: | YVA-reports and public opinion writings from the internet:
|
Effects on economy (esp. gas energy plant)
Juha
Focus: | Factors related how plant affects to economy in Pirkanmaa and Kyrönkoski area |
Scope: | 10 - 20 years? |
Description: | How new municipal solid waste incinerator affects to economy? Waste incinerator is going to be a quite significant employer in Hämeenkyrö. It is also noted that price of gas energy is rising so it might be necessary to build the waste incinerator to guarantee low priced energy for M-real cardboard factory and Finnforest sawmill. Shutdown of either of these factory could be devastating to Hämeenkyrö's economy (employs over 300 persons). Shutdown of gas energy plant is not crucial (employs only 24 people). |
Inputs: | Data
|
Index: | |
Definition: | |
Unit: | € or employed persons |
Result: | Worst-case scenario:
Best-case scenario:
OK-case scenario:
|
References: |
Transportation costs of waste
Anne
Focus: | |
Scope: | |
Description: | |
Inputs: | |
Index: | |
Definition: | |
Unit: | |
Result: | |
References: |
Health effects of dioxins and PM2.5
Anu T
Focus: | effects of dioxins and PM2.5 on human health |
Scope: | potential short-term and long-term health effects among Hämeenkyrö inhabitants caused by dioxins and PM2.5 originating from the Hämeenkyrö municipal solid waste incinerator |
Description: | Dioxins are a group of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) and dibenzofurans (PCDFs). 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) is the most toxic PCDD/Fs congener, and it is classified as a known human carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).
Evidence concerning cancer risk is mainly from animal studies, and dioxins are probably quite weak carcinogens in humans. Evindence concerning other health effects is inconsistent. Sensitive subgroups: foetuses, newborns, individuals with high fish consumption, individuals working in incineration plants etc. (For health effects related to short-term exposure R↻ ) PM2.5 are fine particles less than 2.5 μm in diameter.
Sensitive subgroups: children, the elderly, individuals with heart and lung disease, individuals who are active outdoors |
Inputs: | Fine particle variables:
Dioxin variables:
|
Index: | |
Definition: | |
Unit: | Dioxins: increase in lifetime risk per pg/kg body weight
PM2.5: increase in the risk of death per each 10 µg/m3 elevation in PM2.5 |
Result: | Dioxins
PM2.5
per each 10 µg/m3 elevation in PM2.5 air pollution |
References: | Crump et al. 2003. Meta-analysis of dioxin-cancer dose-response for three occupational cohorts. Environmental Health Perspectives 111 (5), 681-687.
Health aspects of air pollution. Results from the WHO project "Systematic review of health aspects of air pollution in Europe". World Health Organization, 2004. http://www.euro.who.int/document/E83080.pdf Kogevinas 2001. Human health effects of dioxins: cancer, reproductive and endochrine system effects. Human Reproduction Update 7 (3), 331-339. Pope et al. 2002. Lung cancer, cardiopulmonary mortality, and long-term exposure to fine particulate air pollution. JAMA 287 (9), 1132-1141. Pope et al. 2004. Cardiovascular mortality and long-term exposure to particulate air pollution. Circulation (109), 71-77. Service Contract for Carrying out Cost-Benefit Analysis of Air Quality Related Issues, in particular in the Clean Air for Europe (CAFE) Programme. Volume 2: Health Impact Assessment. AEA Technology Environment, 2005. http://ec.europa.eu/environment/air/cafe/pdf/cba_methodology_vol2.pdf Tuomisto et al. 1999. Synopsis on dioxins and PCBs. Publications of the National Public Health Institute B17/1999. |
Miscellaneous variables
- Secondary effects on waste separation, recycling etc.)
Municipal solid waste production in Häme
Pasi K
Focus: | Total amount of municipal solid waste produced in Häme |
Scope: | Describes municipal solid waste production in all over Häme and it's final destination in different parts of the providence |
Description: | There is three waste management companies in Häme:
- Kujala waste center is located in Lahti - Population in Päijät-Hämeen jätehuolto Oy area of operation is ~199 000
- Two waste centers; Kapula waste center is located in border of Hyvinkää and Riihimäki (wastes from southern parts of the company operation area) and Karanoja waste center in Hämeenlinna (wastes from northern parts of the company operation area) - Population in Kiertokapula Oy area of operation is ~319 000
- Kiimassuo waste center is located in Forssa - Population in Loimi-Hämeen Jätehuolto Oy area of operation is ~115 000 |
Inputs: | Municipal solid waste sited in 2005 to
- amount of municipal solid waste per person
- amount of municipal solid waste per person
- amount of municipal solid waste per person |
Index: | |
Definition: | |
Unit: | tonnes/year and kg/person |
Result: | Total municipal solid waste sited to
- Kujala (Lahti): 45 591 tonnes/year (229 kg/person) - Kapula (Hyvinkää/Riihimäki) and Karanoja (Hämeenlinna): 42 827 and 43 509 tonnes/year (271 kg/person) - Kiimassuo (Forssa): 31 083 tonnes/year (270 kg/person) |
References: | http://www.ymparisto.fi/download.asp?contentid=3281&lan=fi
http://www.phj.fi/downloadable_material/Toimintakertomus.pdf http://www.kiertokapula.fi/PDF/pdfoppaat/Toimintak_2005.pdf |
Existing MSWI plants and current plans in southern Finland
Marjaleena
Focus: | |
Scope: | |
Description: | |
Inputs: | |
Index: | |
Definition: | |
Unit: | |
Result: | |
References: |
Background of waste production and its relations to EU directive
Eva
Focus: | Constraints on waste incineration and landfilling by EU legislation |
Scope: | Municipal waste. Landfill Directive (99/31/EC). Incineration Directive (2000/76/EC) |
Description: | Related to Waste management options: The EU has a framework for coordination waste management within the Community in order to limit the generation of waste (orginal Directive: 75/442/EC): "Member states must prohibit the abandonment, dumping or uncontrolled disposal of waste. They shall promote waste prevention, recycling and processing for reuse." ..."establishing an integrated and adequate network of disposal installations (taking account of the best available technologies)." (1)
Related to MSWI: Directive objective is "to prevent or reduce, as far as possible, air, water and soil pollution caused by the incineration or co-incineration of waste, as well as the resulting risk to human health." Limit values for incineration plant emissions to atmosphere in Annex 1. Limit values for co-incineration plant emissions to atmosphere in Annex 2. "The quantity and harmfulness of incineration residues must be reduced to a minimum and residues must, as far as possible, be recycled." (2) Related to Landfill: "The Directive is intended to prevent or reduce the adverse effects of the landfill of waste on the environment, in particular on surface water, groundwater, soil, air and human health." It introduces stringent technical requirements for waste and landfills. "The Directive sets up a system of operating permits for landfill sites. (3) |
Inputs: | Related to MSWI: Air emission limit values for the incineration and co-incineration of waste. (2)
Related to landfill: List of technical requirements. (3) Targets to reduce landfilling of biodegradable municipal waste (garden waste, kitchen waste, park waste, paper, cardboard) to 75% of 1995 levels by 2006, 50% by 2009 and 35% by 2016. (5) |
Index: | |
Definition: | The Incineration Directive not only applies to facilities intended for waste incineration ("dedicated incineration plants") but also to "co-incineration" plants (facilities whose main purpose is to produce energy or material products and which use waste as a regular or additional fuel, this waste being thermally treated for the purpose of disposal) (2). Discussion: Is the MSWI in Hameenkyro an incineration or co-incineration plant? |
Unit: | |
Result: | All waste disposal installations or areas are submitted to EU legislation and should comply with the imposed standards, limit values. When establishing a new installation or landfill, the application requirements should be carefully considered. |
References: | (1) Waste disposal. Council Directive 75/442/EEC of 15 July 1975 on waste. http://europa.eu/scadplus/printversion/en/lvb/121197.htm
(2) Waste incineration. Directive 2000/76//EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 December 2000 on the incineration of waste. http://europa.eu/scadplus/leg/en/lvb/128072.htm (3) Landfill of waste. Council Directive 1999/31/EC of 26 April 1999 on the landfill of waste. http://europa.eu/scadplus/printversion/en/lvb/121208.htm (4)J. Kunninen. Multilevel governance. The burning issue of waste in Finland. Centre for European Studies University of Helsinki. (5) Briefing Friends of the Earth. Main EU Directives on waste. April 2001. |