Issues in risk assessment of compost from municipal solid waste: occupational health and safety, public health, and environmental concerns

• Published in: Biomass & bioenergy 1992, Vol.3 (3), p.145-162
• Main Author: Gillett, James W.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: compost; exposure; hazard; metals; Municipal solid waste; occupational assessment; organics
• ISSN: 0961-9534; 1873-2909
• DOI: 10.1016/0961-9534(92)90023-J

Risks posed by composting of municipal solid waste (MSW) depend on the assessment approach used. Occupational risks at present are not overtly serious— only nausea, eye irritation, etc. are reported from inhalation, the chief exposure pathway—but details are lacking on outcomes of pathogenic, chemical and physical threats, including potential secondary problems with organisms developed in compost, their endotoxins, and metabolic products such as aflatoxin. Potential risk pathways of public exposure to MSW compost are dominated by children's lead ingestion, but “dioxins” and other persistent organic carcinogens are also of dietary concern. Risks to the “most exposed individual” (MET) may differ substantially from those based on the Alternative Pollutant Limit (APL) approach. Neither deals adequately with uncertainty or multiple pathway/chemical threats to public and environmental health. Additional issues include (a) incremental vs. total risk, (b) required nutrient intake vs. proscribed toxicant exposure (for the same element) and (c) long-term matters of “no net degradation,” and composting in recycling.