Contribution of municipal waste incineration to trace metal deposition on the vicinity

Because municipal solid waste incineration is one potential source of air p ollution, the incineration industry has provoked great public concern, espe cially for areas within 10-20 km of an incinerator. However, little work ha s been done to evaluate whether an incinerator significantly contributes po llutants to nearby areas. Rain and snow samples were collected at eight loc ations distributed in a semi-circular pattern radiating out in the prevaili ng wind direction from the Claremont incinerator, New Hampshire, U.S.A. Sod ium, Mg, K, Ca, Fe, Al, B, Sr, Ba, Pb, Cr, Cd, V, Ni, Mn, As, Co, Cu, and Z n were analyzed in the solutions of rain and snow and in particulate fracti ons of rain samples. Principal component analysis was used to identify the most important sources of atmospheric deposition in an attempt to identify the contribution of heavy metal deposition due to the incinerator. Analyses show that the predominant sources of metal deposition are very different f or fall and winter. The most important source of metals for the rain sample s collected in fall 1996 is soil dust, but for the snow samples collected i n the winter 1997 is probably coalfired fly ash. The Claremont incinerator contributes less than 20% of the total variance of the elemental concentrat ions.