Elsevier

Environment International

Volume 122, January 2019, Pages 151-158
Environment International

Fetal growth, stillbirth, infant mortality and other birth outcomes near UK municipal waste incinerators; retrospective population based cohort and case-control study

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2018.10.060Get rights and content
Under a Creative Commons license
open access

Highlights

  • One of the largest studies to date on health risks of municipal waste incineration

  • Investigated all 22 British municipal waste incinerators (MWIs) operating 2003–10

  • Used both modelled emissions concentrations and proximity to estimate MWI exposures

  • Examined birth weight, multiple births, sex ratio, prematurity and mortality outcomes

  • Found no associations between MWI proximity or emissions and infant health outcomes

Abstract

Background

Some studies have reported associations between municipal waste incinerator (MWI) exposures and adverse birth outcomes but there are few studies of modern MWIs operating to current European Union (EU) Industrial Emissions Directive standards.

Methods

Associations between modelled ground-level particulate matter ≤10 μm in diameter (PM10) from MWI emissions (as a proxy for MWI emissions) within 10 km of each MWI, and selected birth and infant mortality outcomes were examined for all 22 MWIs operating in Great Britain 2003–10. We also investigated associations with proximity of residence to a MWI. Outcomes used were term birth weight, small for gestational age (SGA) at term, stillbirth, neonatal, post-neonatal and infant mortality, multiple births, sex ratio and preterm delivery sourced from national registration data from the Office for National Statistics. Analyses were adjusted for relevant confounders including year of birth, sex, season of birth, maternal age, deprivation, ethnicity and area characteristics and random effect terms were included in the models to allow for differences in baseline rates between areas and in incinerator feedstock.

Results

Analyses included 1,025,064 births and 18,694 infant deaths. There was no excess risk in relation to any of the outcomes investigated during pregnancy or early life of either mean modelled MWI PM10 or proximity to an MWI.

Conclusions

We found no evidence that exposure to PM10 from, or living near to, an MWI operating to current EU standards was associated with harm for any of the outcomes investigated. Results should be generalisable to other MWIs operating to similar standards.

Abbreviations

MWI
municipal waste incinerator
EU
European Union
PM10
particulate matter ≤10 μm in diameter
SGA
small for gestational age
SO2
sulphur dioxide
NOx
nitrogen oxides
HCl
hydrogen chloride
CO
carbon monoxide
VOC
volatile organic compound
POPs
persistent organic pollutants
PCDD/Fs
polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins/furans
PCBs
polychlorinated biphenyls
PAHs
polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
EU-WID
European Union Waste Incineration Directive
COA
Census Output Area
MSOA
Middle Layer Super Output Area
GAM
generalised additive model
OR
odds ratio
ONS
Office for National Statistics
EA
Environment Agency
SEPA
Scottish Environment Protection Agency
NRW
Natural Resources Wales
NHS
National Health Service
NHS NN4B
Numbers for Babies
NWIS
NHS Wales' Informatics Service
HSW
Health Solutions Wales
NCCHD
National Child Community Health Dataset
ISD
Information Services Division Scotland

Keywords

Environment
Birth weight
Stillbirth
Infant mortality
Municipal Waste Incinerator
Epidemiology

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