Background
Several studies on the possible health effects related to residing close to incinerators have been published and well-conducted reviews are available [1-3]. Results from ecological studies have suggested associations with some reproductive outcomes (infant deaths and congenital malformations [4]; birth defects [5]; congenital anomalies and stillbirths [6]; gestational age [7]) and with cancer (all cancer, larynx, lungs, esophagus, stomach, intestine, liver, kidneys, bladder and breast) [8,9]. However, there are several weaknesses of these results due to design issues such as lack of exposure information and use of surrogate measures such as distance from the source, lack of control for potential confounders. Therefore several uncertainties limit the overall interpretation of the findings. More detailed studies on incinerators in France and in Italy suggest an increased risk for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma [10-12], soft-tissue sarcoma [13,14] and urinary tract birth defects [15].