Do Waste Incinerators Induce Adverse Respiratory Effects?
An Air Quality and Epidemiological Study of Six Communities in North Carolina. The University of North Carolina conducted a three-year epidemiological study of the prevalence and incidence of respiratory effects among residents of communities surrounding three types of waste incinerators (a biomedical incinerator, a municipal waste incinerator, and a liquid hazardous waste-burning industrial furnace), and three matched comparison communities. Purposes: 1) To compare the prevalence of chronic respiratory symptoms, respiratory hypersensitivity, diminished lung function, upper respiratory tract inflammatory reactions, and upper and lower respiratory tract diseases in exposed and non-exposed communities, adjusting for the distribution of known risk factors for these conditions; 2) To select subcohorts of normal and of hypersensitive adults in these exposed and control communities and to obtain daily measurements of lung function and respiratory symptoms in these persons over a one month pe
