A study indicates that the Mataró incinerator is not a health risk factor

The incinerator at the Maresme Comprehensive Waste Recovery Center is not a risk factor for the health of the population. This has been confirmed by the ninth phase of biological monitoring that Maresme Circular, the brand of the Maresme Waste Consortium, has commissioned from the Private Health Foundation of the Maresme Health Consortium.

The Maresme Waste Consortium has been carrying out this control for 29 years and, once again, the conclusions of the study confirm that the exposure of the Maresme population to the levels of dioxins, furans, polychlorinated biphenyls and heavy metals from the energy recovery does not pose any risk to your health.

A sample of 250 people

To prepare the report, a multidisciplinary medical work team has been involved, with doctors, analysts and nurses from the Research Unit of the Health Foundation, the dioxin laboratory of the CSIC and the National Center for Working Conditions of Barcelona.

The study population was made up of a group of 250 people, including plant workers, residents of Mataró and Arenys de Mar, as well as lactating women from the capital of Maresme. All of them have had their levels of dioxins, furans and polychlorinated biphenyls measured in their blood – and breast milk, in the case of infants – and their levels of heavy metals in their blood and urine.

The sample has been divided into an ‘exposed’ group – people who live at a distance of less than 1.5km from the incinerator – and another ‘non-exposed’ group – people who live at a distance of more than 3km from the energy recovery plant. –, to be able to compare and evaluate the effects of the incinerator on the health of those in Maresme.

Study result:

• The levels of dioxins and furans in blood samples from the populations of Mataró and Arenys de Mar have experienced a decrease during the period 1999-2015 and since then have remained stable at levels below 10 pg I-TEQ /g fat.

• The levels of dioxins and furans in breast milk samples from lactating women in Mataró have experienced a slight decrease in the last 10 years (2012-2022), going from levels close to 3.5 pg I-TEQ/g fat to around levels of 2.0 pg I-TEQ/g fat.

• The levels of polychlorinated biphenyls in blood samples from the populations of Mataró and Arenys de Mar have experienced a decrease during the period 1999-2012 and since then have remained stable at levels below 1 μg/L.

• The levels of polychlorinated biphenyls in breast milk samples from lactating women in Mataró have experienced a slight decrease over the last 10 years (2012-2022), going from levels of 3 to levels of 2 μg/L.

• People considered exposed at the Mataró incinerator plant have levels of dioxins, furans and polychlorinated biphenyls in blood similar to those of people considered not exposed (controls from Mataró and Arenys de Mar), both in the 2022 evaluation and at over the last 27 years, so exposure to the Mataró incinerator plant does not seem to have a relevant influence on the levels of these substances in the body.

• In 2022, people considered exposed at the Mataró incinerator plant do not have levels of heavy metals significantly different from those of people considered unexposed in Mataró.

• In 2022 and throughout the period 1995-2022, the levels of dioxins, furans and polychlorinated biphenyls in blood samples from workers at the incinerator plant have been similar to the levels of the populations of Mataró and Arenys de Mar.

Higher chromium levels in inciderator workers

In 2022, the levels of Pb and Cd in blood and Hg and Ni in urine of the incinerator plant workers are similar (not significantly different) to the levels of the population of Mataró and Arenys de Mar and are clearly below the reference levels for the population not exposed at work. However, in 2022 the levels of Cr in urine of incinerator plant workers are higher than population values ​​(2.99 vs 1.10 μg/L, respectively) and are above population reference levels. not occupationally exposed, but below the reference values ​​for the population with occupational exposure.

In 1995, with the commissioning of the incinerator, the Maresme Waste Consortium launched the first control over its possible impact on the health of the population. It was a pioneering study in Catalonia at the time. Today, this scientific study carried out in Mataró is the longest of all similar energy recovery plants existing in the State.

All the reports carried out over the years have scientifically determined that, on the one hand, the levels of dioxins and furans in the biological samples of the populations studied are comparable to those observed in industrial and urban areas of other regions of the country; and on the other hand, that exposure to the incinerator plant is not a risk factor for the health of the population.

The Maresme Comprehensive Waste Recovery Center treats more than 190,000 tons of residual fraction waste annually from Maresme and Vallès Oriental, prioritizing the recovery of materials from all recyclable products, including organic matter – in 2023 it recovered 20,300 tons of materials –, then optimizing energy recovery, thus following the waste management hierarchy established in European directives.

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