Chemicals
in Irish bird's eggs traced to Welsh incinerator
This was the heading of an article in last
Sunday's Sunday Times. It stated that
"pollutants from an incinerator in Wales have been found in birds' eggs in
the southwest of Ireland by researchers at National University of Ireland,
Cork. Scientists discovered traces of the chemicals in a
study of birds' eggs in Cork, Kerry and Waterford, indicating
the long-distance effects of the waste
disposal".
"Dr. John O'Halloran, a researcher at
the Environmental Research Institute in Cork said: "The amounts present,
although small, are of concern because you have a pollutant
appearing that should not be there at all, and appearing in
all the eggs right across the survey which points to it being
air-borne and having been diffused over a wide
area."
"Scientists believe the PCBs they
found were released by an incinerator in Pontypool, south Wales. The plant was opened in 1974 and disposed of
thousands of tonnes of hazardous waste each year. It closed in 2002 after a long-running
campaign by locals who claimed it was releasing dangerous toxins into the
environment. Shanks Chemicals, the company which managed the plant,
said the closure was due to a decline in the
market."
"There are a number of small-scale
commercial incinerators in Ireland with a further five large plants proposed to
deal with municipal waste. An
Environmental Protection Agency report in December last year
found that disposal of waste by incinerator is the preferred
option ahead of the continued use of
landfills.
A recent study by the Food
Safety Authority concluded that the levels of dioxins in
Irish-produced foods was extremely low and posed no risk to
consumers. It also supported the development of "properly run"
incinerators."
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