Lead Exposure Assessment

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Scope

This assessment is towards an incinerator that is to be built in a community and it is the purpose to assess the heavy metal lead exposure and the potential effects on the inhabitants. This might be a proposal of a study to be done within a stipulated period to allow for measurements of both the environment and biomarkers as well.

Question

Does the operation of the incinerator increase the effects of lead exposure be it acute or adverse to the extent for a closure or shutdown due to change in levels of lead?

Intended use and users

The assessment is to be done for the city council in relation to a decision that would be made concerning the operation of this incinerator.

Participants

To make this assessment possible, participants include members of the population both within the outskirts and outside a defined range of the incinerator. However this assessment would hope to exclude the owners or management of the incinerator to bar any sort of influence or conflict of interest in the decision making process as a result of this assessment. The minimum amount of people would be 300 spread across three zonal areas in closeness or far range from the incinerator.

Boundaries

Factors to consider would be blood lead levels before and after the operation of the incinerator. The distance to the incinerator should also be considered and also preexposure levels in the environment of lead should be taken in consideration.

Decisions and scenarios

Would it be possible to shutdown an incinerator that must be emitting levels of lead that are above the limits set by health authorities or would it be better for recommendations to be made by the city council like ways of amending any risks if other considerations like employment, effects of remediation, etc are taken into account.

Timing

The timing of the assessment would be made based on lead levels in the environment and blood lead levels 6 months before the incinerator comes into operation and also 6 months after the incinerator is in operation. The decision would be made in another 6 months time based on the observed results.

Answer

If the incinerator will be shut down, then the city council have to be convinced beyond doubt about the change in lead levels before and after the incinerator was in operation.

Results

Both blood lead levels and environmental measures before and after do not show a significant change in the lead levels and thus can be said to not contributing factor from the incinerator.

Conclusions

The conclusion would be that there would not be the need to shut down the incinerator based on the effects of lead exposure that does not show any significant increase in the change of lead exposure levels before and after the operation of the incinerator.

Rationale

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Lead exposure[exposure scenarios in the environment and the individual considering the incinerator in operation]

Stakeholders

Mostly the city council since the final decision rest on their undertaking. However the population also have an interest since they may directly or indirectly be affected health wise by the operation of the incinerator. The company might also be interested since financially, whatever decision would be taken whether good or bad will shape their future budget.

Dependencies

There must be various options available for the city council and this would depend on the results as can be seen regarding the final decision to be made.

Indices

Non marginal indexes of age and sex are used here. Hence the effects of lead exposure in lets say a maternal and fetus as compared to a young male is different in such scenarios.

See also

Risk management

Keywords

Lead, exposure assessment, risk assessment, effects of lead

Related files

Variable