Health damages and disparities from municipal and medical waste incineration in Baltimore, USA.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Waste incineration in Baltimore, USA, involves two major facilities: a municipal solid waste incinerator (WIN Waste) and the nation's largest medical waste incinerator (Curtis Bay Medical Waste Incinerator). Both operate in socio-economically disadvantaged communities, raising concerns about cumulative environmental exposures and health disparities from hazardous air pollutants.

Methods

We estimated health impacts from available criteria incinerator emissions data (PM, NOx, SO₂, CO). We used AERMOD to model ground-level pollutant concentrations, linked these to U.S. Census tracts, and monetized health damages using established relative risk and cost of illness data. Health disparities were evaluated by modeling incinerator-attributable mortality against

SUBMITTER: Tu KJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12236935 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature