Wastewater plant sparks air quality debate

Air quality monitoring

Wastewater plant sparks air quality debate

30 Jul, 2009

Published over 17 years ago. See the latest and most current information on Air quality monitoring.

Air quality issues may be at the top of the agenda for health experts meeting today to discuss the proposed expansions to a wastewater treatment plant in Boston.

Wastewater officials have claimed that the Brockton power plant is almost certainly emitting more particulate matter than in the past.

Douglas Dockery, chair of the Environmental Health Department at the Harvard School of Public Health, described the pollution, which is made up of minute particles, as "insidious", alleging that it has been linked to "almost everything you can think of" in terms of health problems.

"[Particular matter] penetrates very deeply into the lungs," he told the Enterprise. "It can get past a lot of the normal defence mechanisms."

However, the city's siting board said that the plant's effect on local air quality was not of concern.

In related news, a wastewater treatment plant in California has become the first plant in the US to introduce a technique of generating renewable energy using leftover scraps of food.

Written by Claire Manning

Latest News

IET 36.3 May

Explore our Digital Edition

Discover the latest news and research

Digital edition

Explore Our Other Sites

Labmate Online
Lymph node behaviour may explain why brain tumours resist immunotherapy
Explore more Arrow
Pollution Solutions Online
Slurry grant a fossil fuel failure?
Explore more Arrow
Petro Online
Next-generation analytical instrumentation delivers enhanced performance and usability
Explore more Arrow
Chromatography Today
Unlock high-resolution analysis of therapeutic oligonucleotides
Explore more Arrow