THE GLOBAL EXPOSURE OF MAN TO DIOXINS - A PERSPECTIVE ON INDUSTRIAL-WASTE INCINERATION

Industrial waste incinerators (IWIs) contribute to only 1% to the know n global atmospheric emissions of PCDDs and PCDFs. Their emissions via Stack gases are mainly particulate. Soil and grass close to IWIs cont ain PCDDs and PCDFs at urban background levels. Average human uptake r esulting from all sources was estimated to be 2-10 pg/kgbw/d (TEQ). Al so, based on a combination of experimental toxicology and epidemiologi cal data, it is concluded that, when applying a safety factor of 100, man would not be affected by a lifetime exposure to PCDDs and PCDFs of 100 pg/kgbw/d (TEQ). Emphasis should be placed upon further minimisat ion of the major emissions. For IWIs, present technology permits the a ttainment of emission levels of 0.1-1 ng TEQ/m3 of stack gas. Further reduction would require high technical effort and cost for relatively little benefit.