Incinerator dioxins to rise 100-fold by 2010 - EPA

Poisonous dioxins produced by waste incinerators will jump a hundred-fold by 2010 should the construction of the Government's seven proposed plants proceed, figures released today predict.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the nine industrial incinerators in Ireland produced a mere 0.015 per cent of all dioxins in 2000.

This will soar to 17 per cent in 2010 should the Government build seven more incinerators for municipal and hazardous waste, the EPA predicted.

In spite of strict controls at these plants to limit the amount of contaminated ash released into the environment, it is predicted the proposed incinerators would eventually contribute 1.8 per cent of all dioxin emissions into the air in 2010. The remainder of the toxic ash will be landfilled.

The Government plans to be burning one millions tonnes of municipal each year by 2010.

However, the output from industrial incineration pales into insignificance when compared with the toxins produced by the public.

The figures show that uncontrolled burning of waste contributed 73 per cent of all dioxins in 2000, mainly from domestic waste bonfires, house fires and accidental building fires. This will drop to 61 per cent of the total in 2010, the EPA said. Dioxins from sewage will rise from 2 per cent to 11 per cent over the same period.

The affects of exposure to dioxins on humans can range from skin lesions and liver damage to impairment of the immune system, other organ problems and even damage to developing foetuses. Chronic exposure of animals to dioxins has resulted in several types of cancer.

The Minister for the Environment, Mr Cullen, said the report showed Ireland has comparatively low levels of dioxon pollution and his plans for waste incineration will have a limited effect on the environment.

He said the public must take responsibility for the fact that they are responsible for the vast majority of air pollution through burning household waste.