The global exposure of man to dioxins: A perspective on industrial waste incineration

Abstract Industrial waste incinerators (IWIs) contribute to only 1% to the known global atmospheric emissions of PCDDs and PCDFs. Their emissions via stack gases are mainly particulate. Soil and grass close to IWIs contain PCDDs and PCDFs at urban background levels. Average human uptake resulting from all sources was estimated to be 2–10 pg/kgbw/d (TEQ). Also, based on a combination of experimental toxicology and epidemiological data, it is concluded that, when applying a safety factor of 100, man would not be affected by a lifetime exposure to PCDDs and PCDFs of 1–10 pg/kgbw/d (TEQ). Emphasis should be placed upon further minimisation of the major emissions. For IWIs, present technology permits the attainment of emission levels of 0.1–1 ng TEQ m 3 of stack gas. Further reduction would require high technical effort and cost for relatively little benefit.