BACKYARD or open burning is a common phenomenon in many townships of Zambia, despite the habit being harmful to both the environment and to human beings.
People burn trash for various reasons, sometimes because they find it easier than hauling the waste to the local disposal site or to avoid paying for the routine waste collection service.
In the past, backyard or open burning may have been the only way that many households could get rid of the waste.
Today, however, some people can afford to obtain reasonably priced waste collection or take their waste to a conveniently located drop-off site as alternatives to backyard burning.
But most people, especially in townships, do not have the capacity to pay for such services.
So they burn the waste openly without realising how harmful this practice is to their health and to the environment.
According to some experts, backyard burning is far more harmful to life and to the environment than previously thought.
Of course, this is not a health column.
But I would not hesitate to mention that the burning increases the risk of heart disease; aggravates respiratory ailments, such as asthma and emphysema, rashes, nausea, or headaches.
Backyard burning produces harmful quantities of dioxins, a group of highly toxic chemicals that settle on crops and in our waterways where they eventually wind up in food and affect our health.
Dioxins are a group of chemically-related compounds that are persistent environmental pollutants.
The dioxins are found throughout the world in the environment and they accumulate in the food chain, mainly in the fatty tissue of animals.
More than 90 per cent of human exposure is through food, mainly meat and dairy products, fish and shellfish.
Some countries have programmes in place to monitor the food supply.
Dioxins are environmental pollutants.
They belong to the so-called “dirty dozen” – a group of dangerous chemicals known as persistent organic pollutants.
This is according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Open burning refers to burning garbage in barrels, open pits, outdoor furnaces, wood stoves, or fireplaces.
However, some studies have actually linked dioxins and furans to cancer and respiratory disease.
The ash produced from burning material that contains plastic and rubbers are hazardous.
Burning of household items such as bottles and jugs, construction material (vinyl siding, wire insulated with plastic) and agricultural waste (silage wrap plastic or rubber) is dangerous to the environment and to human beings.
The main concerns with the open burning of garbage at waste disposal grounds relates to the potential effects on human health and the environment.
Open burning is an inefficient combustion process and releases significant amounts of air pollutants and ash, and dense white or black smoke.
During calm or inversion conditions, the levels of the pollutants are higher because of their reduced dispersion in the atmosphere.
At other times, the area affected by the smoke cannot be predicted because of the variability in the wind direction and wind speed.
The air contaminants released depend on the material being burned and the conditions of the fire.
The smoke may include aldehydes, acids, nitrogen oxides, sulphur oxides, Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs), dioxins, furans, other organics and volatilised heavy metals.
For example, treated wood wastes may release arsenic, PVC plastics may release hydrogen chloride, and wood painted with lead-based paints may release lead.
The ash from the waste may be contaminated with toxic chemicals such as dioxins and furans, PAH’s, heavy metals, and other potentially carcinogenic compounds.
Some of the ash will be carried off into the atmosphere with the smoke plume, while the rest will remain behind after the fire has been extinguished.
The greatest health risk from the open burning of garbage at a waste disposal ground would be to those closest to the fire who may inhale the smoke.
Other individuals on and off-site may also be affected, depending on factors such as the distance from the fire, exposure duration, amount and type of material burned, individual sensitivity.
The pollutants are all toxic to humans, depending on their concentration, and may cause irritation, skin and respiratory problems; some are carcinogenic.
Those individuals with respiratory problems such as asthma, or people with allergies, may be even more sensitive to the smoke.
The smoke from open burning may be a major source of complaints from the public because of its odour and it has various effects on visibility.
The ash, which may be dispersed by the wind or leached by water, may contain toxic contaminants.
Toxins may be leached from any ash remaining which could lead to the contamination of surface water or ground water.
Some people may say, “We’ve been burning garbage for ages, so what’s the big deal now?”
It should be understood that open burning of garbage, even seemingly harmless materials like paper, cardboard, yard waste, and construction debris, releases a hazardous mixture of cancer-causing compounds and other toxic substances when open-burned.
Since open burning of garbage is more common in rural and agricultural areas, there is particular concern for high levels of dioxins and furans settling on crops in the streams and lakes.
Dioxins and furans produced by the open burning of garbage are deposited on plants, which are eaten by animals.
The dioxins and furans are absorbed by these animals and stay in the food chain until they ultimately end up in our meat and dairy products.
In fact, over 90 per cent of the intake of dioxins and furans is from our diet.
Acid Rain is the result of the emissions of sulphate and nitrates into the atmosphere from the burning coal to produce electricity.
It is deposited to the earth’s surfaces as an acid.
Typically, dioxins do not exist in materials before they are incinerated, but are produced when waste is burned.
Significantly higher levels of dioxins are created by burning trash in burn barrels than in municipal incinerators.
Household burn barrels receive limited oxygen, and thus burn at fairly low temperatures, producing not only dioxins, but a great deal of smoke and other pollutants.
With all said, I want to conclude by responding to a colleague who asked me after launching this column, whether the people affected by environmental factors such as these access or read the newspaper.
Well, my response is simple; my main targeted audience includes policy makers like the Zambia Environmental Management Agency and their partners so that they formulate responsive policies that can influence change.
This is because of low level literacy especially in rural areas where open bush burning is common and lack of resources for the urban population to afford a copy of the newspaper.
But I believe some people, especially in the urban areas, are aware about the dangers of damaging the environment, but there is an attitude problem which should be changed.
The other target audience also included the non-governmental organisations (NGOs) dealing with climate change or environmental issues so that they are reminded about their objectives and reasons for their existence instead abusing donor funds and trotting from one workshop to another.
Let us change our mindset and ensure sustainable environmental management.
Until next week, stay blessed, and let us keep interacting so that we protect our environment!