Subject: Sources of dioxins Dear Infoterrans, Because several recent messages have the toxicity of dioxins as topic, it might be of interest to know the most important sources. A recent inventory was made in Flanders (the North of Belgium) a densily populated and highly industrialised country. Total inhabitants 6 million. This country has the "honour" to have the highest dioxin content in mother's milk of the world, according to the WHO. Measured and estimated for 1995 to air: All figures expressed in gram I-TEQ per year Process 1995 variation E-fact extent Incineration of municipal waste: 187 0 0 Heating of buildings (mainly from wood): 122 2-3 0 Non-Ferro metals: 107 2 1 Incineration of hospital waste: 95 1 1 Sinter processes: 53.2 2 0 Lime kilns: 33.4 2 0 Incineration of industrial waste: 20.9 1 1 Cement kilns: 20.8 2 0 Industrial heating: 7.00 2 0 Electro-steel: 6.42 2-3 0 Incidental fires: 2.56 2 2 Coke factories: 2.31 1 0 Car traffic: 1.71 1 0 Electricity: 1.07 2 0 Incineration of sludge: 0.75 1 1 Crematoria: 0.19 1 0 Chlorine- and VCM-production: 0.05 1 0 Incineration of bio-gas: 0.012 2 1 Paper bleaching: 0 2 1 Total: 662 g I-TEQ/year E-fact: this is the variation in decades of the available measurements in similar processes. extent: 0 = more or less precisely known from measurements 1 = not completely known, completed with estimates 2 = no precise data, estimated Source: VITO, Materiaal dossier dioxines, 1995 They made also a survey of dioxin sources to water: Measured and estimated for 1995 to water: All figures expressed in gram I-TEQ per year Process 1995 variation E-fact extent Sinter processes: 3.19 2 0 Cokes factories: 0.23 2 0 Chlorine- and VCM-production: 0.222 1 1 Crematoria: 0.19 1 0 Incineration of garbage: 0.0575 1 1 Incineration of industrial waste: 0.021 1 1 Incidental fires: 0.015 2 2 Paper bleaching: 0 1 0 Total: 3.77 g I-TEQ/year The total amount of dioxins, measured in solid waste, was 485 g I-TEQ per year, more than 97% coming from municipal waste incineration. Comment: With the implementation of the European directive to have dioxin emissions at the stack of less than 0.1 ng/m3, the amounts released by incinerators should be ten times less now. More info on dioxin emissions (of The Netherlands and the UK) and dioxin formation can be found at the Chlorophiles pages at http://www.ping.be/Chlorophiles/Eng/ChlorineDiSrc.html Ferdinand Engelbeen Chairman Chlorophiles Oude Ertbrandstraat 12 B-2940 Stabroek Belgium Tel.&fax: +32-3-664.46.63 http://www.ping.be/Chlorophiles/Eng/ChlorineDiSrc.html Ferdinand.Engelbeen@ping.be - message sent by infoterra@cedar.univie.ac.at to signoff from the list, send an email to majordomo@cedar.univie.ac.at the message body should read unsubscribe infoterra your@email.address -