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Open–air burning of municipal solid waste and the incineration of waste produced by health facilities without adequate control equipment are sources of gases, particles, and vapors that are hazardous to health. Populations exposed to these gases tend to experience respiratory tract problems, skin infections, and even more serious conditions. Moreover, if waste is not sorted prior to burning, as is common in open–air garbage dumps and in rural areas, incinerated plastics, batteries, and other industrial waste can produce dioxins and furans, two toxic and carcinogenic substances. According to national inventories of dioxin and furan emissions in Latin America and the Caribbean, in Argentina, Colombia, Cuba, Paraguay, and Uruguay nearly half of the emissions of these contaminants can be attributed to the indiscriminate burning of household waste. Although the entire population feels the effects of the mismanagement of solid waste, vulnerable populations who are poor or who live in unplanned urban areas suffer the most.
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