First announced in 2012 in response to public concern over emissions from energy-from-waste (EfW) plants, it was originally envisaged that the joint UK and Scottish Government research project would publish its findings in March 2014.
However, because of the “unanticipated complexity in gathering data” the publication date has subsequently been delayed several times. This was reportedly due to having to enter emissions data into an electronic format manually before statistical analysis could begin.
A firm release date for the project’s full findings has still not been set, but PHE has confirmed that they are expected to see the light of day this year.
Dr Ovnair Sepai, from PHE’s Toxicology Department, told letsrecycle.com: “It is expected that papers from the project will be submitted by SAHSU (Small Area Health Statistics Unit) to peer reviewed journals in 2016, and it is likely to be a few months after submission for the papers to be published.
“It is import to stress that Public Health England’s position that well-run and regulated modern municipal waste incinerators are not a significant risk to public health remains valid”
Dr Ovnair Sepai
Public Health England
“It is import to stress that Public Health England’s position that well-run and regulated modern municipal waste incinerators are not a significant risk to public health remains valid, and the study is being carried out to extend the evidence base and to provide further information to the public on this subject.”
Previous postponements to the publication of the study last year promoted anti-incineration campaign group Breathe Clean Air Group (BCAG) to suggest government was attempting to hide the health impact findings (see letsrecycle.com story).
Research
The research project is made up of a number of review papers looking at the different possible human health impacts of waste incinerators, with King’s College London and Imperial College London both being funded by PHE and Zero Waste Scotland to carry out the research.
In total, the project involves examining areas of up to 5km around 22 incinerators across England, as well as the Dundee Energy Recycling Ltd EfW in Scotland.
The preliminary results of some studies have already been made publicly-available, including one which found “no evidence” of emissions around four UK facilities: Dudley’s Lister Road incinerator; the former HLC Crymlyn Burrows incinerator near Swansea; Veolia’s Sheffield EfW, and; the SELCHP plant in Lewisham.
However, the study did detect some metal particle emissions within 10km of another two – the Wolverhampton Civic Incinerator and Suez’s Stockton-on-Tees EfW (see letsrecycle.com story).
Another review paper forming part of the PHE project looked at 14 previously-published scientific studies on the possible links between incinerator emissions and congenital anomalies (also known as birth defects), but found that the evidence was “inconclusive” and called for further study (see letsrecycle.com story).
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