In 1976 the chemical 2,3,7,8-Tetra Chlorinated Dibenzo-para-Dioxin (2,3,7,8-TCDD or the singular "dioxin"), was identified in the emissions from waste incinerators by Kees Olie and co-workers in the Netherlands. Many other members of the dioxin family (there are well over 75 poly chlorinated dibenzo para dioxins, or PCDDs) and members of the furan family (there are well over 135 poly chlorinated dibenzo furans, or PCDFs) have since been discovered in these emissions. The incinerator industry has claimed that, as long as the incinerator furnaces are operated at a high temperature, all the dioxins and furans would be destroyed. However, this is manifestly not the case:

In 1985, the reason why high temperatures alone could not solve the dioxin problem was revealed at an International Symposium Germany. Dioxins are, in fact, reformed after the flue gases leave the combustion chamber. If the flue gases from an incinerator are passed through air pollution control devices, more than a hundred fold increase in dioxin and furan formation can take place. To minimise post combustion formation of dioxin requires the quenching of the flue gases immediately after they emerge from the combustion chamber. However, this conflicts with the aim of generating energy from waste, because such generation requires the flue gases to go through boilers to generate steam to drive turbines, thus delaying the necessary quenching. Of course, the profitablility of municipal incinerator for their private operators is strongly threatened by allowing or following regulations on dioxin emission.

Without immediate quenching, fly ash collected in the scrubbing devices is contaminated with dioxins and furans. A hundred times more dioxin may leave the facility in fly ash, than from the air emissions. However, until recently, regulatory agencies have turned a blind eye to the dioxins and furans left in fly ash, even though in some cases the combined ash is often used in building material or landfill. To reduce the organochlorine content would require vitrification, which still further escalates the costs of incineration - so it is not done.

It is also the case that there is no continuous monitoring of dioxins. Even the most stringent precautions to minimise air emissions will not appease a concerned public, as there is no equipment available in the world capable of monitoring dioxins and furans on a continuous basis, and even less will to do so on the part of industry. Spot-checks are all that is made, with advance notice given to the operator that they are going to be monitored on a particular day. This occurs very rarely, even though regulations have been tightened. It is also the case that a number of operators have been caught cooking the books, showing doctored emissions data to the EPA.

"For example, in 1993, the citizens of Columbus, Ohio, who were aroused by anecdotal reports of an increase in rare neurological symptoms and other illnesses, including cancer, in the vicinity of a 2000 ton per day incinerator, discovered that measurements made at the facility in 1992, but not reported to the public, indicated that nearly 1000 grams of dioxin TEQs were being emitted from the facility annually. This was more than the total dioxin generated in the whole of Germany at that time. The citizens received two further shocks. First, scientists from the US EPA reported at Dioxin '93, that the total quantity of dioxin emitted from all the US trash incinerators combined (about 130 at that time) was between 60 and 200 grams of dioxin TEQs (24), which was less than the single Columbus incinerator by itself. Second, the Ohio Health department reported that a 1000 grams of dioxin (about one half of a Seveso accident) falling annually on their heads and surrounding areas posed no health problems."

- Municipal waste incineration: A poor solution for the twenty first century, Dr. Paul Connett, 4th Annual International Management Conference 1998

There have also been many incidents of mechanical breakdown, usually unreported at the time, and of delibrately lowering combustion temperatures below legal limits to save money and to make filter removal easier. No one knows what the dioxin emissions are like when these events take place. In short, in most countries neither the regulatory authorities nor the industry has put the monitoring of dioxin onto a scientifically acceptable footing.

"The attention being paid to end-of-the-pipe dioxin control on incinerators will not solve the dioxin contamination of the environment. Whether one accepts the need for trash incineration or not, one has to applaud the efforts and success of those who have reduced dioxin emissions from these facilities. However, this effort cannot solve the dioxin problem generated by municipal waste. As long as chlorinated plastics like poly vinyl chloride (PVC) and poly vinylidine dichloride (PVDC) are present in the waste stream, dioxins and furans are going to be generated in every back yard burner, landfill fire, roadside burning and accidental fires in homes, businesses and industry."

- Municipal waste incineration: A poor solution for the twenty first century, Dr. Paul Connett, 4th Annual International Management Conference 1998

Industry assumes the reverse to be the case, in a typically selfserving manner that becomes all too familiar as one looks into the issues. The toxicity issue is covered the next page.