Memorandum submitted by Michael Ryan (Waste
28)
1. EXECUTIVE
SUMMARY
The waste strategy in England, and in the rest
of the UK, fails to examine any health or mortality data in electoral
wards around any incinerator or landfill site, in order to prove
or disprove any association between exposure to PM2.5 emissions
from such sites and elevated rates of illness and premature deaths
at all ages.
The Health Protection Agency, upon whom DEFRA and
many Primary Care Trusts rely for expert advice on such matters,
have not examined any of the data described above, otherwise they'd
have observed that infant mortality rates are very high in the
electoral wards around incinerators, and other industrial sources
of PM2.5 emissions, and infant mortality rates are very low, or
even zero for many successive years, in electoral wards that are
free from such emissions.
The safest system of waste disposal is also the cheapest,
and yet the UK fails to promote the safest system, which is plasma
gasification, and which is at least one hundred pounds per tonne
cheaper than incineration if the health damage costs of incineration
are factored into the calculation.
Incineration costs approximately sixty-eight
pounds per tonne and the health damage costs are about the same
again.
Plasma gasification has a net cost of about
twenty-three pounds per tonne and has negligible health effects
and also zero toxic residue to be landfilled, unlike incineration
where about 30% of the volume burnt is left as highly toxic ash.
Other countries such as US, Canada, Japan, France,
and Norway are using plasma gasification, and yet here in the
UK, Councils are signing 27-year PFI deals for incinerators, often
in locations where there is a deep water port for easy importation
of waste from abroad.
The UK should immediately cease importing waste,
and also switch to the safest system of waste disposal.
Here in Shropshire, Veolia have just been awarded
a 27-year contract to build and operate an incinerator at Harlescott,
Shrewsbury, when they have also been awarded a contract to operate
a plasma gasification plant for Dow Corning in Midland, Michigan,
as can be seen from this news release of 1 October 2007: http://www.inentec.com/news.html
Veolia also wish to build incinerators at Newhaven,
Sussex and at Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, where such installations
will cause the infant mortality rate and other health parameters
to soar in electoral wards that receive PM2.5 emissions from their
incinerators.
2. INCINERATORS
AND INFANT
MORTALITY RATES
IN LONDON'S
ELECTORAL WARDS
If the City of London is counted as a single
electoral ward, there are 625 electoral wards in the Greater London
Authority's area.
When the Office for National Statistics [ONS] VS4
birth/mortality data is examined for the four years 2003-06, there
are 43 electoral wards where there were zero infant deaths recorded
by ONS in each of the four years.
The "zero" infant death wards in London
were all free from incinerator emissions from the incinerators
within the GLA's area at SELCHP [New Cross], Edmonton, St Mark's
Hospital at Northwick Park, Hillingdon Hospital, Kings College
Hospital at Denmark Hill, the four sewage sludge incinerators
at Crossness, Beckton, Beddington Lane [Sutton] and at Edmonton,
and also from the Colnbrook incinerator just outside the GLA's
boundary.
During the same four year period 2003-06, there
were 42 electoral wards which had infant mortality rates which
were greater than, or equalt to 10.0 deaths per 1,000 live births.
These wards with exceptionally high rates, are all associated
with incinerators, a fact that needs to be demonstrated on a map
such as the ward map that Ken Livingstone kindly sent me following
my FoI request, and which I'm sure he'll be glad to supply to
the EFRA Committee.
There have been several newspaper reports about
my infant mortality research starting with the Enfield Advertiser
of 25 April 2007 and the Sunday Express of 29 April
2007.
Those who think that infant mortality is caused
by "deprivation" will be surprised to learn that some
of London's least deprived wards have very high rates of infant
deaths, including Chingford Green ward, which "just happens
to be" downwind of Edmonton incinerator:
http://www.guardian-series.co.uk/search/display.var.1592749.0.concerns_over_infant_death_rates_in_chingford_green.php
Not many soccer fans will know that David Beckham's
father lives in Hampton Road, Chingford, which is within a mile
of Edmonton incinerator, although most will have heard that Ted
Beckham nearly died of a heart attack a few weeks ago. When I
checked the Waltham Forest Guardian website for "heart attack"
recently, there were 363 items, mostly fatalities. It was no coincidence
that there are so many heart attacks in Waltham Forest and the
only person who seems to have identified the Edmonton incinerator
as a major cause is Kathy Gosling, a former Councillor of Waltham
Forest Borough Council.
When a literature search was done today [26
October 2007] for "air pollution, infant mortality"
in the archive of the US National Library of Medicine there were
seventy-five peer-reviewed journal articles listed, the latest
being "Fine particles, a major threat to children" by
J Henrich and R Slama.
Fine particles are usually termed PM2.5s and
page 16 of the DEFRA Air Quality Strategy for England, Scotland,
Wales and Northern Ireland report of July 2007 lists some of the
adverse health effects of PM2.5s, and starts: "Both short-term
and long-term exposure to ambient levels of PM [particulate matter]
are consistently associated with respiratory and cardiovascular
illness and mortality as well as other health effects."
In the London Borough of Brent, Fryent ward
is one of the "less deprived" wards and yet due to its
proximity to incinerators, has the highest infant mortality rate
in that Borough at 12.8 deaths per 1,000 live births. Fryent ward
was named by Brent PCT as having the highest hospital admission
rate for cardiovascular disease in their latest report that I've
read.
There were nine London wards with higher infant
mortality rates than Fryent in 2003-06 as follows:
Harrow Weald [Harrow]: 16.1 per 1,000 live births
[eight infant deaths]
Chingford Green [Waltham Forest]: 15.6 per 1,000
[six infant deaths][37]
Noel Park [Haringey]: 15.1 per 1,000 [twelve
infant deaths, and 1,071 live births][38]
Tottenham Green [Haringey]: 14.0 per 1,000 [fifteen
infant deaths][39]
Newington [Southwark]: 14.0 per 1,000 [twelve
infant deaths]
White Hart Lane [Haringey]: 13.7 per 1,000 [twelve
infant deaths][40]
West Ham [Newham]: 13.3 per 1,000 [thirteen infant
deaths]
Northumberland Park [Haringey]: 13.3 per 1,000
[fifteen infant deaths][41]
Queensbury [Harrow]: 12.0 per 1,000 [eight infant
deaths]
I've included the number of live births in Noel
Park ward above, because there were a similar number of live births
recorded in Valentines ward [Redbridge] in 2003-06, where there
were 1,020 live births and zero infant deaths. Note that unlike
the wards with high infant mortality rates, Valentines ward is
outside the range of PM2.5 emissions from the London incinerators
at Edmonton, SELCHP etc.
Most people would be able to tell the difference
between zero infant deaths and twelve infant deaths, especially
the parents and families, and also the friends and colleagues
of the bereaved parents.
Members of Parliament cannot be expected to
look after the interests of their constituents, or the nation
as a whole, unless they are adequately informed of the facts.
When I made a formal submission to the EFRA
Committee examining the Environment Agency nearly two years ago
[published 11 May 2006, pages Ev202-206], I did not have the infant
mortality data for every electoral ward in England & Wales.
I now hold that data and have analysed it and proved that there
is a clear and consistent association between industrial sources
of PM2.5 emissions and elevated rates of infant mortality.
3. IRONBRIDGE
POWER STATION
& ELEVATED RATES
OF INFANT
MORTALITY
Here in Shropshire, we have a major source of
PM2.5s from Ironbridge Power Station. During the nine-year period
1998-2006, the group of eight orange-coloured electoral wards
on the downwind side of Ironbridge Power Station had a total of
56 infant deaths recorded by ONS, and can be seen on the map at:
http://www.ukhr.org/incineration/ironbridgewardmap.pdf
The same map has a group of six green-coloured
electoral wards on the upwind side of the power station where
there were just four infant deaths recorded during the same nine-year
period.
The orange-coloured wards had four times as
many live births as the green-coloured wards, so if the infant
mortality rates in both zones had been the same, there would have
been 16 infant deaths in the orange-coloured wards, and not 56.
Dr Catherine Woodward, of Telford & Wrekin
PCT, has published a report [May 2006] which claims to prove that
emissions from Ironbridge Power Station have no detrimental effect
on rates of sickness and premature deaths on electoral wards downwind
of that power station.
http://www.telfordpct.nhs.uk/pct_information/T&WBoardBriefings/2006/may_2006/7/Agenda%20Item%207%205%20-%20Investigation%20in%20South%20Telford.pdf
Dr Dick van Steenis MBBS is a medically-qualified
doctor who has considerable expertise in the health effects of
industrial PM2.5 pollution and he tried to get Dr Woodward to
agree to a meeting at which he could explain how the power station
was causing such high rates of illness and premature deaths at
all ages. Dr Woodward refused to meet in her letter of 31 May
2005, and her Chief Executive has asked David Wright MP to have
my statement of evidence [Ev202—206] removed from the Parliamentary
website:
http://www.parliament.uk/documents/upload/David%20Wright%20MP%20to%20Jack%20%2D%20Mr%20Michael%20Ryan.pdf
The 40 "excess" infant deaths in the
orange-coloured electoral wards during 1998-2006 were not an awful
coincidence, but the predictable result of being downwind of a
major industrial source of PM2.5 pollution.
4. COMPOSTING
OF WASTE
Composting of waste seems a harmless form of
disposing of waste, and yet David Davies MP is aware of major
problems in parts of Yorkshire due to moulds etc from large composting
sites.
CONCLUSION
I request that Dr Dick van Steenis be allowed
to explain the facts about industrial air pollution to the EFRA
committee, members of which are likely to have searching questions
for him.
I also request that David Wright MP be invited to
attend such a committee so that he understands fully that he is
mistaken about Ironbridge Power Station and that the deaths due
to the toxic PM2.5 emissions from that plant will continue.
Michael Ryan
37 These wards are affected by emissions from Edmonton
incinerator. Back
38
These wards are affected by emissions from Edmonton incinerator. Back
39
These wards are affected by emissions from Edmonton incinerator. Back
40
These wards are affected by emissions from Edmonton incinerator. Back
41
These wards are affected by emissions from Edmonton incinerator. Back
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