Crackdown on hospital incinerators coming soon

CMAJ 2001;164(4):533

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Many of the country's 120 hospital incinerators now burn PVC plastic, paper, batteries and discarded equipment, and this leads to emissions of dioxins, mercury and other toxins. The US Environmental Protection Agency says medical waste incineration is now the third largest source of dioxin in the environment and accounts for 10% of mercury emissions.

Generating stations like this one are the usual target of environmentalists, but hospital incinerators are another major source of dioxin emissions. Canapress

Environment Canada reports that biomedical waste incinerators are the second largest source of dioxin emissions in Canada and account for about 9% of the country's mercury emissions.

For new incinerators, the standard proposed by the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment would limit dioxin emissions to 80 picograms per cubic metre and mercury emissions to 20 mg/m³ by 2006. Annual stack testing will verify compliance.

"The standards are strong enough to close down old incinerators," says Rich Whate, the Canadian coordinator for Health Care Without Harm, an international coalition that promotes environmentally responsible health care.

This means more hospitals will be transporting their hazardous waste to modern commercial incinerators, such as a new one in Brampton, Ont. Whate hopes the high cost of transporting will encourage hospitals to separate their trash.

A 1993 study by the Ontario Ministry of the Environment found that 10% of the 150 000 tonnes of waste produced by the province's hospitals each year was handled as biomedical waste (Ontario Ministry of the Environment. A strategy for the development of new biomedical waste management facilities in Ontario. Toronto: The Ministry; 1992) but a subsequent study revealed that 39% of it was ordinary waste that needed no special treatment (Ontario Ministry of the Environment and Energy. Evaluation of biomedical waste generated in Ontario. Toronto: The Ministry; 1993).

The Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment welcomes the proposed regulations, but says there are currently "bizarre" rules. In Ontario, says CAPE Chair Trevor Hancock, incinerators built before 1986 don't have to adhere to emission standards set in 1986. And although the Ontario government will help fund new incinerators, they won't pay for upgrades. — Barbara Sibbald, CMAJ

Copyright 2001 Canadian Medical Association or its licensors