Incineration is currently being used for disposal of about 10% of the solid waste generated in the United States, and this percentage will likely increase as land disposal declines. Siting new incinerators, however, is often controversial because of concerns related to the possibility of adverse health effects and environmental contamination from long-term exposure to stack emissions. Specific ...

Estonia has one of the most established e-voting systems in the world. Internet voting remote e-voting using the voter’s own equipment was piloted in 2005 [12] (with the first real elections using e-voting being conducted the same year) and has been in use ever since. So far, the Estonian internet voting system has been used for the whole country in three sets of local elections, two European P...

Mercury-bearing material enters municipal landfills from a wide array of sources, including fluorescent lights, batteries, electrical switches, thermometers, and general waste; however, the fate of mercury (Hg) in landfills has not been widely studied. Using automated flux chambers and downwind atmospheric sampling, we quantified the primary pathways of Hg vapor releases to the atmosphere at si...

Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) has been detected in environmental samples in Ohio and West Virginia near the Washington Works Plant in Parkersburg, West Virginia. This paper describes retrospective fate and transport modeling of PFOA concentrations in local air, surface water, groundwater, and six municipal water systems based on estimates of historic emission rates from the facility, physicoche...

Overall evidence from epidemiologic studies in the workplace suggests that dioxin is a human carcinogen, but whether low doses affect the general population remains to be determined. The authors examined the spatial distribution of soft-tissue sarcomas and non-Hodgkin's lymphomas around a French municipal solid waste incinerator with high emission levels of dioxin (16.3 ng international toxic e...

Large quantities of mercury (Hg) have been placed in municipal landfills from a wide array of sources, including fluorescent lights, batteries, electrical switches, thermometers, and general waste. Despite its known volatility, persistence, and toxicity in the environment, the fate of this Hg has not been widely studied. Using automated flux chambers and atmospheric sampling, we quantified the ...

Global generation of municipal solid waste (MSW) is now ~1200 Tg/yr (1 Tg = 10 g), >70% of which is landfilled. Landfilling of waste contributes ~30-35 Tg methane (CH4 )annually to the world's total CH4 emission of ~550 Tg/yr. Recycling and thermal treatment of waste in wasteto-energy (WtE) facilities contribute equally to diverting MSW from the waste stream destined for landfills and to mitiga...