Health Risk Assessment of Heavy Metals in Medical Fly Ash and Cinder from Incineration

Safe disposal of medical and pharmaceutical wastes has been extensively concerned by the society nowadays. If disposed improperly, they are very likely to produce secondary pollution. Incineration is considered as one of the most feasible methods. However, if the solid wastes produced by the disposal of medical and pharmaceutical wastes, including the fly ash and cinder, are released to environment directly, they could still exist potential risks. The human health risk value of heavy metals in fly ash and cinder from incineration caused by drinking water through solid waste leaching experiment combined model prediction were studied in this paper. Compared with the acceptable health risk level 5.0×10_-5/a^-1 recommended by ICR, it can be concluded that fly ash and cinder released from medical and pharmaceutical wastes incineration existed health risk, and should be disposed and managed according to the hazardous waste standard.