Options for management of municipal solid waste in New York City: A preliminary comparison of health risks and policy implications

Landfill disposal and waste-to-energy (WTE) incineration remain the two principal options for managing municipal solid waste (MSW). One critical determinant of the acceptability of these options is the different health risks associated with each. In this analysis relying on published data and exposure modeling, we have performed health risk assessments for landfill disposal versus WTE treatment options for the management of New York City’s MSW. These are based on the realistic scenario of using a waste transfer station (WTS) in Brooklyn and then transporting the untreated MSW by truck to a landfill in Pennsylvania or using a WTE facility in Brooklyn and then transporting the resultant ash by truck to a landfill in Pennsylvania. The overall results indicate that the individual cancer risks for both options would be considered generally acceptable, although the risk from landfilling is approximately 5 times greater than from WTE treatment; the individual non-cancer health risks for both options would be considered generally unacceptable, although once again the risk from landfilling is approximately 5 times greater than from WTE treatment. If one considers only the population in Brooklyn that would be directly affected by the siting of either a WTS or a WTE facility in their immediate neighborhood, individual cancer and non-cancer health risks for both options would be considered generally acceptable, but risks for the former remain considerably higher than for the latter. These results should be considered preliminary due to several limitations of this study such as: consideration of risks only from inhalation exposures; assumption that only volume and not composition of the waste stream is altered by WTE treatment; reliance on data from the literature rather than actual measurements of the sites considered, assuming comparability of the sites. However, the results of studies such as this, in conjunction with ecological, socioeconomic and equity considerations, should prove useful to environmental managers, regulators, policy makers, community representatives and other stakeholders in making sound and acceptable decisions regarding the optimal handling of MSW

POLYMORPHISMS FOR VINYL CHLORIDE METABOLISM IN FRENCH VINYL CHLORIDE WORKERS

Abstract. Genetic polymorphisms of aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (ALDH2) and cytochrome P450 2E1 (CYP2E1) have been shown to influence the degree of genetic damage in Taiwanese workers exposed to the carcinogen -vinyl chloride (VC). Certain French VC workers have been found to express biomarkers of mutant forms of cancer-related proteins (ras-p21 and p53) that have been related to their exposure. ALDH2 and CYP2E1 polymorphisms were investigated in 211 of these workers in an attempt to correlate differences in VC metabolic capacity with differences in the presence of these biomarkers. All of the workers were found to have the normal, wild-type ALDH2 gene, and none of them were found to be homozygous for the variant CYP2E1 allele. Sixteen workers were found to be heterozygous for the variant CYP2E1 allele. After adjusting for age, smoking, drinking and cumulative VC exposure, the odds ratio for the presence of either the mutant ras-p21 or the mutant p53 biomarker in these heterozygous workers was found to be statistically significantly increased in comparison to their homozygous, wild-type counterparts (OR = 5.05; 95% CI = 1.10-23.25). However, as opposed to the case in Taiwanese workers, these polymorphisms are relatively uncommon, and thus differences in ALDH2 and CYP2E1 can account for only a small proportion of the variability in mutagenic response to VC exposure in a Caucasian population