Transfer of dioxin risk between nine major municipal waste incinerators in Taiwan

The objective of this study was to assess site-specific carcinogenic risks of incinerator-emitted dioxins and risk transfers among the areas covered by nine municipal incinerators in Taiwan. We used actual emission data and the industrial source complex short-term model (ISCST3) to determine the dioxin impact areas within the 8 x 8-km simulation regions surrounding the incinerators. We then used multimedia model to estimate cancer risks in individual impact areas for two exposure scenarios, which were sufficient (SFP) and insufficient food production (IFP) for residents' consumption in each impact area. We also used information of food supply and consumption between impact areas to calculate risk transfers among these nine incinerators. We found that dioxins' carcinogenic risks ranged from 1.4 x 10(-8) (Incinerator F) to 7.1 x 10(-5) (Incinerator A) for the nine incinerators under the exposure scenario of SFP, and ranged from 8.7 x 10(-8) (Incinerator D) to 1.1 x 10(-6) (Incinerator E) under the exposure scenario of IFP. The food ingestion was the main exposure pathway, which accounted for 64-99% of total dioxin risks among nine impact areas. For the nine major food items consumed by residents in the impact areas, eggs (14-35%) and chicken (11-26%) were two main routes of dioxin exposure in the SFP scenario, while chicken (8-78%) and vegetables (0.2-81%) were two main routes of dioxin exposure in the IFP scenario. Significant risks of dioxins were transferred among incinerators, which accounted for up to 88% among the incinerators. Incinerator E was the major risk-exporting source to six Incinerators C, D, F, G, H, and I. For these six incinerators, Incinerator E accounted for their 51-88% imported risks. We concluded that risk transfers among incinerators through routes of food consumption should be considered in assessing health risks associated with incinerator-emitted dioxins in Taiwan. We should place high priority on implementing control measures to lower dioxin emissions in important food-exporting areas like Incinerator E. We should also emphasize analyzing dioxin contents in eggs, chicken, and vegetables in order to improve dioxin-related health risk assessments in the future.