[Dioxin-l] Dioxins from backyard burning

[Jeremiah Baumann]

FROM TODAY'S NEW YORK TIMES


          In the Backyard, a Potent Source of
          Pollution

          By ROBERT A. SAAR

               Household trash burned in one backyard barrel may release more
               dioxins, furans, and other chlorine-containing pollutants to
the air
               than tons of trash burned by a municipal waste incinerator
serving
          tens of thousands of homes, according to a report being made
public today.

          The research, done at the federal Environmental Protection Agency's
          Open Burning Test Facility in Research Triangle Park, N.C., also
showed
          that recycling may have a drawback: higher concentrations of
pollutants
          containing chlorine were created when recyclable materials were
taken out
          of the waste mix compared with emissions when all household trash
was
          burned. 

          The report will appear in the Feb. 1 issue of Environmental
Science &
          Technology and is available today to Internet subscribers of the
journal. 

          An estimated 20 million people in rural areas burn trash in their
backyards
          according to agency surveys. Although emissions of dioxins and
furans --
          two chemically similar groups of pollutants -- vary considerably
from barrel
          to barrel, backyard burning may contribute as much of these
compounds to
          the air as all the nation's municipal waste incinerators
combined, said
          Dwain Winters, director of the agency's Dioxin Policy Project. 

          "With improved pollution controls on incinerators, backyard
burning may
          turn out to be one of the largest sources of dioxins and furans
to the air,"
          Mr. Winters said. "We need a better understanding of barrel burning
          before we set policy on this source of air pollution." 

          Many factors influence the amount of dioxins and furans produced,
          including temperature, burn time, trash density and the presence of
          chlorine. Common materials containing chlorine include PVC
plastics, salt
          in food wastes and bleached paper products. The agency estimates
that
          wood burned in fireplaces and stoves produces very small amounts of
          dioxins and furans compared with trash burned in barrels. 

          In the 1980's, one dioxin called
2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin was
          considered by toxicologists to be one of most toxic compounds in the
          environment and the cause for the evacuation and multimillion-dollar
          cleanup of Times Beach, Mo., where dioxin-contaminated oil was
spread
          to control dust. 

          This dioxin at high levels causes the skin condition chloracne
and is
          considered by the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease
          Registry to be a possible -- but not confirmed -- human carcinogen. 

          The agency burned a representative household trash mix as
determined by
          New York state's Department of Environmental Conservation. Two
          55-gallon barrels were filled with waste generated by a family that
          recycles (low in paper, glass, metal cans and certain plastics),
and two
          barrels were filled with all household trash. Hazardous materials
like paint,
          solvents and oil were excluded. 

          The dioxins and furans released from 2 to 40 burning barrels were
found to
          approximate the amount released from a 200 ton-per-day municipal
          incinerator with well-functioning pollution controls. Such an
incinerator
          handles garbage from 40,000 to 120,000 households. 

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