Facts
Health and Environment

Ultrafine particle concentrations “similar than those found in ambient air”

In this 2012, reasearchers compared the concentrations of ultrafine particles in emissions coming from Waste-to-Energy plants, vehicular traffic, wood combustion boilers, oil combustion boilers, natural gas combustion. They also assessed these concentrations in comparison to ambient air.

Key findings

“For all [Waste-to-Energy] plants studied, the concentrations measured are consistently lower by at least two orders of magnitude compared with those found for wood and oil combustion in domestic boilers, and only slightly higher than those produced by natural gas boilers;” p. 30

An English summary can be found here.

Reference: S. Cernuschi, S. Consonni and M. Giugliano, Emissioni di Polveri Fini e Ultrafini da impianti di combustione, Politecnico di Milano, 2012.

Full study

Latest articles in this category

One of the largest studies to date shows no evidence that Waste-to-Energy plants affect babies

“no evidence for increased risk of a range of birth outcomes, including birth weight, preterm delivery and infant mortality, in relation to either MWI emissions or living near an MWI”

INERIS report on accuracy of air emissions measurement

This report addresses the reliability and accuracy of measurements at very low concentrations. This is essential in guaranteeing that the very low emission limits set in the legislation can be monitored in a reliable way.