Open Burning of Trash: A Hidden Toxin (Part One)

In a two-part series this week, Rob Arner, consultant with Re-gain Enterprise, will examine the problems associated with backyard trash burning and what municipalities and government leaders are doing to address those problems. Read part two here.

The open burning of household trash directly affects Americans' health and welfare. This nation lacks any awareness or education regarding this activity. The open burning of trash can increase the risk of heart disease; aggravate respiratory ailments, such as asthma and emphysema; and cause rashes, nausea or headaches. Backyard trash burning also produces harmful quantities of dioxins, a group of highly toxic chemicals that settle on crops and in waterways, where they eventually wind up in our food and affect our health.

Typically, the trash burned can include plastics, paper or any other materials that would be recycled or landfilled. This may take place in an open pit, burn barrel, homemade burn box, wood stove or outdoor boiler. This backyard burning releases toxic air emissions directly into the atmosphere without being treated or filtered. This pollution is tough to track since it is unmonitored and unregulated. Also, scientists have difficulty factoring this air pollution in their studies and atmospheric computer models.

Uncontrolled, low-temperature burning and smoldering conditions are typical of backyard trash fires. Created are pollutants such as polychlorinated dibenzodioxins and dibenzofurans, sometimes collectively called "dioxins,” fine particulate matter and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). These pollutants form during backyard trash burning regardless of the composition of the material being burned.

Modern combustors, on the other hand, are designed to burn waste efficiently at high temperatures and to minimize the conditions known to promote the formation of these combustion byproducts. Studies show higher levels of dioxins are created by burning trash in burn barrels than in municipal incinerators since household burn barrels receive limited oxygen. Also, this trash burning usually happens at fairly low temperatures, producing not only dioxins but a great deal of smoke and other pollutants.

Large incinerators have stringent pollution-control systems that reduce dioxin emissions primarily by preventing their formation. Backyard burning is also particularly dangerous because it releases pollutants at ground level where they are more readily inhaled or incorporated into the food chain.

Recent Studies

The most recent study was written by Alexander Cogut in October 2016, titled “Open Burning of Waste: A Global Health Disaster, for the Regions of Climate Action.” Below are portions from the executive summary:

Below are the findings of a 2014 study published in Environmental Science & Technology, funded by the National Science Foundation. It was coauthored by scientists from the University of Montana and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency:

There is increased concern about air pollution. In a survey of leading British health professionals, nine in 10 said air pollution was harming children in their areas, and a similar proportion (92 percent) said the public needed to be better informed about the issue. These experts state that families and parents are worryingly unaware of the severe damage air pollution is doing to young people in the U.K. All open-burning activities produce smoke and harmful pollutants—some of which are toxic. Repeated exposure to smoke can also cause developmental problems in children and increase people's chances of getting cancer. Children, the elderly, those with lung problems and pregnant or nursing women may suffer more serious health effects than other adults.

Due to increasing climate change, air pollution all over the world is increasing in 2019. A study, published February 4 in Nature Climate Change, shows that the contrast in warming between the continents and sea, called the land-sea warming contrast, drives an increased concentration of aerosols in the atmosphere that cause air pollution. Aerosols are tiny, solid particles or liquid droplets suspended in the atmosphere. They can come from natural sources, like dust or wildfires, or human-made sources, such as vehicle and industrial emissions. Aerosols affect the climate system, including disturbances to the water cycle, as well as human health. They also cause smog and other kinds of air pollution that can lead to health problems for people, animals and plants.

Bassam Khawaja with Human Rights Open wrote in December 1, 2017, regarding uncontrolled burning in the Mideast:

For 40 years, Rob Arner has worked on water quality improvement programs and resource management issues. He has experience in implementing all types of conservation programs in the Washington, D.C., area and in other parts of the U.S. and abroad. Also, he has provided technology transfer and technical assistance in all aspects of pollution prevention.