As doctors, who are well aware of what the law establishing the NHS states (art. 2), among the objectives of the NHS is ... "the formation of a modern health awareness on the basis of adequate health education of citizens and communities; ... the prevention of illnesses and accidents in every area of life and work; ....the promotion and protection of the health and hygiene of the natural living and working environment") as well as what our Code of Conduct also prescribes - or to promote individual and collective health - we can only be disconcerted by reading some official documents published on the institutional website (http://www.governo.it/GovernoInforma/Dossier/rifiuti_piano_salute/index.html) of the Italian Government where it is possible to access an operational health intervention plan for the waste emergency in Campania drawn up, in May 2008, by the Ministry of Welfare and whose drafting has given their collaboration to the Istituto Superiore di Sanità, the Campania Region and the Order of Doctors of Naples.
Among other things, the plan envisages "correct information to the public on any health risks deriving from the accumulation of waste and its disposal" and, referring to the incineration plants, provides this message: "The incineration plants and waste-to-energy plants (such as the one that will come into operation in Acerra) are built according to modern technologies and do not represent an additional risk to the health of the populations residing in the surrounding areas. Their environmental impact is comparable to that resulting from normal urban traffic situations". This statement is at least very imprecise if we look at the data relating to some pollutants, such as, for example, dioxins.
From official European documents (data from the inventory of the European Commission, final report of 31.12.2000, 3rd volume, page 69 http://ec.europa.eu/environment/dioxin/pdf/stage2/volume_3.pdf ) the following data results for Italy: 295.5 g/year of dioxins in equivalent toxicity (TE) produced by incineration plants (equal to 64% of the total), and of these 170.6 g/year (equal to 37% of the total) produced only by municipal waste incineration plants in Italy (about 50), compared with 5.1 g/year (equal to 1.1%) produced by road transport (over 30 million cars, without taking account of other motor vehicles): any comment appears superfluous.
We wonder, in this regard, who has provided the data that support the message that the impact of an incineration plant, or waste-to-energy plant, if you prefer, "is comparable to that resulting from normal traffic situations". The datum of dioxins, in equivalent toxicity, produced annually by incineration plants is particularly impressive, from a health point of view, as
