Recent publication

[DrBillC@aol.com]

In an article published in this month's Environmental Science and Technology,
(July issue, pgs 2121-2126) Professor Rob Louw of the University of Leiden
reports interesting small-scale work.  With up to an eight-fold increase of
PVC load in the MSW only a slight increase in the chlorophenol emission level
has been observed.  Also, replacing compostables and PVC with cellulose and
NaCl showed no difference in chlorinated phenol output.  Many researchers
consider chlorinated phenols a precursor to dioxin formation in combustion.
 This work also lends further weight to the evidence published earlier by the
American Society of Mechanical Engineers regarding the non-correlation of
chlorine in feedstock and dioxin output.

Dioxin reduction from combustion is good; once again, however, it can be seen
that feed management is not a productive strategy to do so.

Bill Carroll
Chlorine Chemistry Council