Local-level assessments and studies

Angers

Past and Present Health Impacts of the Angers Municipal Waste Incineration Plant

The municipal waste incineration plant (UIOM) in Angers (population 157,000; 230,000 in the metropolitan area, Maine-et-Loire) has been operated since 1972 (commissioned in 1974) by the Angers Metropolitan District. Its capacity is 101,000 tons per year.

Located on the outskirts of the metropolitan area and near vegetable farms, it has raised concerns among local residents, which were expressed to the Local Information and Monitoring Commission (CLIS). Although the relocation of the facility was discussed during the project to bring it up to standards, it was not selected.

At the request of the CLIS, the Prefect, upon a proposal from the Departmental Directorate of Health and Social Affairs (DDASS), requested an assessment of the UIOM’s health impact. The DDASS referred the matter (July 1999) to the Western Interregional Epidemiology Unit (CIRE) to conduct this study. The Cire steering committee included this project in the Cire’s 2000 activity program as a feasibility study, the protocol for which was the subject of a previous document.

The overall objective is to assess the risks in order to evaluate the appropriateness of measures to reduce exposure and/or provide health care for the population.

Brest

Analysis of the request submitted by residents living near the Spernot municipal waste incineration plant (Brest-Finistère)

In a letter dated November 2005, residents living near the Spernot incinerator cited "a 111% excess cancer mortality rate in the Brest health region compared to other health regions in Brittany." Residents learned of these data through an article published in the local press in March 2003. They therefore requested the Departmental Directorate of Health and Social Affairs to provide an update on these health data: they submitted this request under the right to information for residents living near polluting facilities.

Gilly-sur-Isère

Key findings from the four local studies in response to residents’ health-related questions

Studies conducted in an area of 30 municipalities located within the plume of the incinerator

Local studies conducted around the Gilly-sur-Isère incinerator

The household waste incineration plant in Gilly-sur-Isère, near Albertville in Savoie, closed in October 2001 following measurements revealing very high concentrations of dioxins in the flue gas.

Public concerns regarding the incinerator’s effects on health, and more specifically on the incidence of cancer, led to the launch in 2002 of four studies in the area exposed to the incinerator’s plume (30 municipalities, 48,000 residents):

  • a health risk assessment conducted by the Rhône-Alpes Center for Epidemiology and Health Prevention (Careps),

  • a study on dioxin concentrations in breast milk, also conducted by Careps,

  • a study on cancer mortality conducted by the Isère Cancer Registry,

  • a study on cancer incidence conducted by the Rhône-Alpes Interregional Epidemiology Unit (Cire).

The results of these four local studies were presented to the population of the study area on Saturday, December 2, 2006, in Albertville, along with the results of two national studies conducted by the French Institute for Public Health Surveillance (Institut de veille sanitaire) on dioxin exposure and cancer incidence around household waste incineration plants. Posters summarizing the results of the six studies were on display, and scientists were present to answer questions.

Overall, the results of the four local studies appear consistent:

  • the risk assessment estimated that exposure to dioxins emitted by the incinerator was likely to cause about ten cases of cancer in the study area over a period of approximately 25 years, starting in the 1990s (a number of cases that cannot be observed in epidemiological studies),

  • the average concentration of dioxins in the breast milk of mothers in the study area was significantly lower than that found in the national study on dioxins in breast milk conducted in 1998–1999,

  • the study on cancer mortality did not support the hypothesis that the incinerator played a role in cancer mortality in the exposed area,

  • the cancer study did not show a statistically significant excess of cancers either in the area exposed to the incinerator plume or in a more exposed sub-area.

The results of the local studies are also consistent with those of the national study on dioxin exposure conducted around 8 incinerators in France, which show an average exposure level for the population exposed to the Gilly-sur-Isère is lower than those obtained for populations exposed to the five other older incinerators and on par with those obtained for the two newer incinerators.

However, the absence of a significant excess of cancers in the area exposed to the Gilly-sur-Isère incinerator may seem to contradict the initial results of the national study on cancers around incinerators, which show a significant excess of certain cancers in populations exposed in the 1970s and 1980s to the emissions from 16 incinerators. This relationship between past exposure to incinerators and cancer is evident overall but does not rule out differences between incinerators. The two studies therefore do not contradict each other but each provide complementary information:

  • results specific to the area exposed to the Gilly-sur-Isère incinerator (the only incinerator around which a local study on cancer incidence was conducted),

  • greater statistical power for the national study, which allows for the identification of excess risks of a few percent in a statistically significant manner.

Posters displayed at the study results presentation day on Saturday, December 2, in Albertville

Poster 1 - Presentation of the studies

Poster 2 - Presentation of the organizations that conducted the studies

Poster 3 - Health risk assessment around the Gilly-sur-Isère incinerator

Poster 4 - Dioxins in breast milk around the Gilly-sur-Isère incinerator

Poster 5 - Cancers around the Gilly-sur-Isère incinerator

Poster 6 - Cancer mortality around the Gilly-sur-Isère incinerator

Poster 7 - Summary of the 4 local studies conducted around the Gilly-sur-Isère incinerator

Poster 8 - National study on dioxin exposure around incinerators

Poster 9 - National study on cancers around incinerators

Poster 10 - General information on dioxins

Poster 11 - What constitutes a significant difference?

Reports and summaries

Institute for Public Health Surveillance, Cire Rhône-Alpes. Gilly-sur-Isère Incinerator. Key findings from the four local studies. In response to public inquiries regarding health. Saint-Maurice: Institute for Public Health Surveillance, 2006. 4 p.

Thabuis A, Schmitt M. Gilly-sur-Isère (Savoie) Municipal Waste Incineration Plant. Retrospective Cancer Incidence Study. Saint-Maurice: Institute for Public Health Surveillance, 2006. 46 p.

Megas F, Voisin L, Schmitt M, Thabuis A. Gilly-sur-Isère (Savoie) municipal waste incineration plant. Feedback on the retrospective survey of cancer cases. Saint-Maurice: Institute for Public Health Surveillance, 2006.

Links to the presentation pages of national studies

Dioxin exposure among populations living near municipal solid waste incineration plants

Cancer incidence near municipal solid waste incineration plants

Martinique

Study of health risks associated with the operation of the Cacem municipal waste incineration plant (Martinique)

In Martinique, the launch in 2002 of the Cacem MSW incineration plant at the Trompeuse site in Fort-de-France raised concerns among some local residents, as well as among employees working in the area downwind of the plant’s emissions. A study to assess the potential health risks associated with the operation of this facility was conducted in 2005. Based on the data collected, it appears that the levels of pollutants emitted from the stack comply with regulations in effect since 2002. All concentrations measured during the tests comply with the limit values set by prefectural decree. It therefore appears that the risk to the population living or working in areas exposed to the UIOM’s plume is of the same order of magnitude as that estimated by the French Public Health Society’s report for recent UIOMs. This risk is low since, particularly for cancers, it does not exceed 10⁻⁵ for heavy metals and 1.2 × 10⁻⁵ for dioxins. Considering only inhalation as the route of exposure (the assumption closest to reality), the excess number of cancers in the population exposed to dioxins emitted by the MSW incinerator would be 0.037 cases over 70 years. This study shows that the Cacem MSW incinerator, in its current mode of operation, complies with current regulations. As a result, the health risks associated with emissions from this plant are very low. Keeping these health risks at a very low level depends on compliance with emission standards.