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  • Title: [Epidemiologic study of the health effects of atmospheric waste from an industrial and household refuse incineration plant].
    Author: Zmirou D, Parent B, Potelon JL.
    Journal: Rev Epidemiol Sante Publique; 1984; 32(6):391-7. PubMed ID: 6531502.
    Abstract:
    This article describes a 1981 study of the health effects of air pollution caused by incineration of industrial and household wastes. The study lasted 2 months and took place in a village of France's Isère department. A retrospective comparison was made of the consumption of medicines for respiratory problems over a 2-year period among 3 matched groups of residents. The groups represented 3 areas of the village situated, respectively, at 200 meters, 1 kilometer and 2 kilometers from the incinerator (the relative distance from the incinerator being used as an indicator of degree of exposure). The consumption of medicines was determined by analyzing Social Security forms filed by the residents after each purchase. The study revealed a strong heterogeneity in the consumption of medicines among the 3 groups: the variances in the number of medicines prescribed decrease significantly (p less than 1%, Bartlett test) as the distance of the residents' homes from the incinerator increases. The authors attribute this fact to the presence, in the group most directly exposed to the pollution, of subjects most affected by the respiratory effects of the polluted air. The mean levels of consumption of medicines (non parametric test) did not reveal any significant differences, though they ranged from 1 to 2.4. With these results in hand, the public health authorities fixed new norms for the operation of the incinerator.
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