In France, 11.4 million tons of household and similar waste were incinerated in 2000. The fleet of incinerators, which currently comprises 123 units compliant with the decree of January 25, 1991, has undergone significant changes in recent years. This waste treatment technique is currently a source of considerable public concern. Regulatory compliance and extensive research have provided some answers to the public’s legitimate questions regarding the associated health risks. However, many doubts remain, and there is often strong local demand for health studies, particularly epidemiological ones. This document, prepared at the request of the Directorate General of Health and presented as a “guideline,” is primarily intended to inform decentralized government agencies and Interregional Epidemiology Units about the public health issues posed by municipal waste incineration plants, and to help them describe and analyze the situation surrounding these facilities at the local level. Readers will thus find scientific arguments that, based on the description of the situation, justify the need (or lack thereof) to conduct specific studies for informed public health management. The document is structured into three distinct parts. The first part describes the steps to be taken at the local level. The methodological framework is based on: i) analysis of the local situation; ii) the definition of one or more public health questions and an analysis of the utility of conducting one or more health studies to address them; iii) an analysis of the relevance of a specific type of study to answer the question; and iv) an analysis of the feasibility of this type of study. The second part provides a summary of the various types of health studies and their potential use for decision-making regarding incinerators. These elements are primarily derived from the analysis of studies already proposed and conducted in past local contexts. Finally, the third part is devoted to reviewing the available knowledge on incinerators, the regulations to which they are subject, their emissions, and the health effects investigated in the literature regarding MSW incinerators. It includes a number of elements useful to the reader for understanding the issue and conducting local investigations. (R.A.)