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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY <br /> Two to three billion (2-3 x109) scrap tires are in landfills and stockpiles across the <br /> United States, and approximately one scrap tire per person is generated every year. Scrap <br /> tires represent both a disposal problem and a resource opportunity (e.g., as a fuel and in <br /> other applications). Of the many potential negative environmental and health impacts <br /> normally associated with scrap tire piles, the present study focuses on (1) examining air <br /> emissions related to open tire fires and their potential health impacts, and (2) reporting on <br /> emissions data from well designed combustors that have used tires as a fuel. <br /> Air emissions from two types of scrap tire combustion are addressed: uncontrolled <br /> and controlled. Uncontrolled sources are open tire fires, which produce many unhealthful <br /> products of incomplete combustion and release them directly into the atmosphere. <br /> Controlled combustion sources (combustors) are, for example, boilers and kilns specifically <br /> designed for efficient combustion of solid fuel. Combustor emissions are much lower and <br /> more often than not, these sources also have appropriate add-on air pollution control <br /> equipment for the control of particulate emissions. <br /> Very little data exist for devices that are not well-designed and use scrap tires for <br /> fuel. These sources include fireplaces, wood stoves, small kilns, small incinerators, or any <br /> device with poor combustion characteristics. Air emissions from these types of devices are <br /> likely between that of open burning and a combustor. There is serious concern that <br /> emissions would be more like those of an open tire fire than a well-designed combustor; <br /> however, emissions testing would have to be conducted to confirm this. <br /> Open Tire Fires <br /> Air emissions from open tire fires have been shown to be more toxic (e.g., mutagenic) <br /> than those of a combustor, regardless of the fuel. Open tire fire emissions include "criteria" <br /> pollutants, such as particulates, carbon monoxide (CO), sulfur oxides (SOX), oxides of <br /> nitrogen (NOX), and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). They also include "non-criteria" <br /> hazardous air pollutants (HAPs), such as polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), <br /> dioxins, furans, hydrogen chloride, benzene, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs); and metals <br /> such as arsenic, cadmium, nickel, zinc, mercury, chromium, and vanadium. Both criteria <br /> and HAP emissions from an open tire fire can represent significant acute (short-term) and <br /> chronic (long-term) health hazards to firefighters and nearby residents. Depending on the <br /> length and degree of exposure, these health effects could include irritation of the skin, eyes, <br /> and mucous membranes, respiratory effects, central nervous system depression, and cancer. <br /> Firefighters and others working near a large tire fire should be equipped with respirators <br /> and dermal protection. Unprotected exposure to the visible smoke plume should be avoided. <br /> Data from a laboratory test program on uncontrolled burning of tire pieces and <br /> ambient monitoring at open tire fires are presented and the emissions are characterized. <br /> Mutagenic emission data from open burning of scrap tires are compared to other types of <br /> fuel combustion. Open tire fire emissions are estimated to be 16 times more mutagenic than <br /> Biu <br />