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The EPA hired two independent laboratories for the testing, this metal are found to be ,!!il!her in a <lentist's o.ffice than in a cre- and agency staff collected samples as well. They tested for the fol- matory, he said. Rahill also cited a recent study completed in the lowing: @ United Kingdom in which soil samples tested for mercury down- . metals (cadmium. mercury and lead); stream of a crematory rated at a level suitable to grow foQ.!;.I for . particulate matter (dust, ash, etc.); ~!b&P~lmDtiQD. - . hydrogen chloride; @ Carbon monoxide. Levels of this gas were found to be almost . opacity (visible smoke); nonexist~nt.. ''They were less than I percent of what is now regu- . dioxin-furans (medical waste); lated In the United States for crematories," Rahill said. . carbon dioxide; . oxygen; . sulfur dioxide; . nitrogen oxide; and . carbon monoxide. Preliminary Results As of August 27, CANA had received and analyzed preliminary results on a number of the tests, as follows: Particulate matter. The levels of particulate matter at all three temperatures were found to be lower than that from a standard home fireplace. The lower the temperature, the less particulate 01.. ," o ':z: ~ l ," .V ~~. '0 '... . Before scrubber . After scrubber 14000 16000 18000 Fireplace matter. "The emissions were lowest at 1400 degrees and signifi- cantly higher at 1800 degrees. which is just the opposite of what every environmental regulation department has been preaching for the last IS years," Rahill said. ''They would tell you it would be just the reverse. But this is reality. This is fact." Particulate matter levels actually increased slightly after going through the scrubber. According to Rahill, this occurred because crematory pollutants are corrected to a standard oxygen level. The introduction of water increases oxygen levels, thereby amplifying the correction and the resultant levels of some pollutants. @> Mercury. According to Rahill, mercury emissions were found to be "guite ~w and fairlv harIT\jess." By comparison, levels of i t)o ~~ .... ,i '" I Before scrubber II After scrubber ~\ Crematories Dentists' offices 'i,fS:"Su'lnma'iiV,j:;,8,1ih:+':': ; oi1'6~id~:)EMjs~'i&-n~':,~~.. .... . '" -. "'. '" ~,..'.".." "'..~'.:.J R'", .,' ", , . ,.. ". '.:.~ ~,~ I '~ >:81 .~~ 1'.1\1 ~ i~ ~:51 ~'" I~~ ~~ 3.5 3 2.5 2 1.5 16000 Opacity. Only the emissions at 1800 F reached an opacity level higher than 5 percent, the level at which emissions are visi- ble to the human eye. At 1400 F, emissions registered at 1.25 per- cent; at 1600 F, they were 2.57 percent; and at 1800 they equaled 10.83 percent. 9 i! ~ 12 10 I!] After scrubber 14000 16000 18000 Visible Smoke Implications A final report on the stack testing at Woodlawn was due out in September, shortly after press time. Based on the preliminary information, Rahill concluded: "The data is extremely consistent with what data we do have, so there were no shocks. We do see a consistent thread throughout the data that the higher the tempera- ture, the worse the emissions get, and it's going to be interesting when we go back to the EPA to start negotiating again how they're going to deal with that. We also saw in looking at the scrubber -# data that. the addition of a scr~~ber of.J'ollution control de'(jse had little or no be,lclits on cremation equipment, so again, it will be interesting to see how they receive that." For additional information on the report or to contribute to the test funding, ICFA members can contact CANA at (312) 644- 6610. -Linda Acorn October 1999 L5