Studies on Dioxin Emission from Incinerators and the Resulting Health Impacts – sdpi.org

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Studies on Dioxin Emission from Incinerators and the Resulting Health Impacts

By: SDPI

In collaboration with the International Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) Elimination Network (IPEN) and ARNIKA, a Czech NGO, SDPI has undertaken, as one of the participating organizations in a global project, to study the most hazardous POP chemicals, dioxin levels released from incineration of wastes. Studies have included measuring dioxin levels in the ash from incinerators and bio-monitoring of chicken egg samples in and around incinerators in Peshawar, Lahore and Karachi.

Under the ARNIKA – SDPI collaboration program, Dr. Jindrich Petrlik, Chairperson ARNIKA visited hospital waste incinerator sites in Peshawar, Lahore and Islamabad. A municipal and hospital waste dumpsite in Peshawar was also visited. A seminar at Environmental Sciences department, University of Peshawar, panel discussion at SDPI and a press conference at Islamabad Press club were also held. A number of meetings on incineration alternatives, Stockholm Convention and NIP activities with NGO representatives and officials of NWFP-EPA, Pak-EPA and NIP staff were also held at Peshawar and Islamabad.

During the year, field visits were also undertaken for eggs sampling at waste disposal dumpsite in Charsadda for dioxin/furan analyses to be carried out at a research laboratory in the Czech Republic. Contamination of Chicken Eggs near the dump site on the edge of Peshawar, Pakistan by Dioxins, PCBs and Hexachlorobenzene was a joint report published by SDPI-ARNIKA.

Ash sampling from brick-kiln and hospital waste incinerators at Lahore, Islamabad and Peshawar for dioxins/furan analyses are also in the process of being carried out in collaboration with the same research laboratory.

Please contact Dr.Mahmood A Khwaja (khwaja@sdpi.org) for more details.