THE pollution faced by residents of housing estates near Ipoh exists in other towns as well.

One of the reasons for this is that polluting factories have been permitted to be built close to low-cost housing estates and vice versa.

In Taiping, a medical waste incinerator operates in the Kamunting Raya Industrial Estate, which is surrounded by a high-density housing estate.

Some of these houses are less than 200m from the incinerator.

(The Environment Quality Act 1974 requires incinerators to be at least 200m from a house or school.)

The Taiping town centre, hospitals, schools and at least two reservoirs fall within 3km of this incinerator.

A bread factory exists next to the incinerator.

The incineration of medical waste releases hazardous air emissions and toxic ash. These emissions contain 210 dioxin compounds, mercury, cadmium, nitrous oxide, hydrogen chloride, sulphuric acid and particulates that can enter the lungs.

Dioxins were classified as known human carcinogens by the World Health Organisation in 1997.

Although the incinerator is located near a densely-populated area and a bread factory, the Department of Environment recently allowed a second incinerator to be built at the same location.

Bearing in mind the food-safety issues caused by the industrial chemical melamine, the department and the Health Ministry should give an assurance to the public that the bread made next to this incinerator is safe for consumption and the emissions released by the incinerator are within the limits set by law.

In the long term, medical waste incinerators should be located away from population centres.

The ministry should look into other ways of neutralising medical waste, such as the superheated pressurised steam system and replacing items containing dioxin, mercury and other toxic materials with non-toxic equipment.

P. KESAVAN, Taiping councillor

Source: NST – November 17, 2008