OAKLAND, California -- A protest over the release of toxic chemicals at a medical-waste incinerator is aiming to do more than call attention to the environmental dangers.
Organizers say two alternate technologies are safer and already widely available worldwide to process medical waste without toxic air emissions, particularly dioxin. The emission of even small amounts of dioxin has been linked with cancer and a host of serious health conditions, including autoimmune diseases.
"We have two types of technology available that are not only cleaner and better for the environment, but will also preserve the jobs of workers at the plant," said Greenaction spokesman Bradley Angel.
The first, autoclaving, uses a steam-heat process to treat the waste. The second, a microwaving system, shreds and then heats the waste. Both processes significantly reduce the volume of the waste by up to 80 percent.
The Friday gathering in front of Integrated Environmental Systems' two medical incinerators in Oakland is part of a larger conference, the Peoples Dioxin Action Summit, from Aug. 10-13. Labor, health, environmental, and scientific activists are gathering at UC Berkeley to discuss last month's report by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency linking dioxin and cancer, and to strategize directions for the future of activism.
IES officials have become accustomed to the presence of protesters in front of their plants and to public criticism in general. But despite more than 250 citations since 1990 for air quality violations, IES continues to downplay any role autoclaving and microwaving could play in medical-waste incineration.
"Autoclaving and microwaving are approved technologies, and in some cases they're appropriate," said Integrated Environmental Systems representative Robert Reed.
Reed said there is no guarantee the steam from autoclaving or the heat of microwaving destroys 100 percent of the infectious products. "After all, we live in an age of HIV infection," Reed said.
The argument that dioxin causes not only cancer but creates hormonal fluctuations, suppressed immune systems, and other health problems was given a significant boost last month by the EPA. Their report linking dioxin with cancer joins existing EPA regulations identifying eight different emissions that medical-waste facilities handling 2 million tons a year have to reduce, including dioxin, mercury, nitrous oxide, sulfur dioxides, particulate matter, hydrochloric acid, and sulfuric acid.
There are more than 100 medical-waste disposal sites using either autoclaving or microwaving, according to Joe Wilson, CEO and president, Sterile Technology Industries, Inc., one of an estimated 10 autoclaving manufacturers.
Costs vary, but growing criticism and government regulations are likely to make autoclaving and microwaving more attractive options for hospitals or off-site disposal contractors, industry officials predicted.
"Incinerators will just be too costly to keep up with those guidelines," said Mark Taitz, vice president at microwaving manufacturer Sanitec International.
Microwaving, he said, kills pathogens by shredding the materials and then running them through a series of heating elements. "It changes the nature of it without creating hazardous air emissions," said Taitz.
Reed said IES' emissions of dioxin are "less than 10 percent of what we're allowed to emit, in one of the toughest air quality districts in the world. Our emissions are barely detectable."
Reed attributes the violations to minor events -- including excessive amounts of steam, a monitor that needs to be replaced, or a "paperwork issue," he said.
A third alternative is truly low-tech technology -- recycling. "Most of the waste is like household garbage. It's mostly packaging," said Jackie Hunt-Christensen, spokeswoman for Healthcare Without Harm. The plastic packaging is as responsible for toxic byproducts as the actual incineration is, according to Greenaction.
Hunt-Christensen said many hospitals are already slashing the costs and volume of medical waste simply by using traditional recycling methods: separating packaging from other materials.
