State and Local Governments are Key
to Reducing Backyard Burning
Backyard burning of garbage is an outdated practice that should be discontinued.  Burning household trash and garbage in burn barrels, open piles, or in indoor or outdoor stoves or furnaces is still practiced in many rural areas.  The practice is a major source of dioxin and other toxic emissions, damaging both our health and our environment.

What are dioxins?
Dioxins are formed when products containing carbon and chlorine are burned.  Open burning of household waste creates significant amounts of dioxins due to the low combustion temperatures, poor air distribution, and the presence of chlorine, which is found in almost all household waste components.  Dioxins are highly toxic even at extremely low levels, and have been linked to serious health problems in humans.  These include cancer and adverse developmental and reproductive effects.  Dioxins accumulate in the food chain.  Airborne dioxins can settle onto feed crops, which are then eaten by domestic meat and dairy animals.  These dioxins accumulate in the fats of animals, and then in humans when we consume meat, fish , and dairy products.  
In addition to dioxins smoke from the open burning of waste contains a variety of harmful pollutants, including particulate matter, sulfur dioxide, lead, mercury, and hexachlorobenzene.  Breathing these pollutants can damage your lungs, nervous system, kidneys, and liver.  Not only are the people who burn trash at an increased risk, but so are their families and neighbors.  Ash from backyard burning is also likely to contain toxic pollutants, which can contaminate vegetables if scattered in gardens.  Children can accidently swallow some toxic materials after dirt gets on their hands while playing near discarded ash.

What You Can Do
Provided below are steps you can take to reduce backyard burning.
To learn more about each of these, visit the EPA's Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle Web site.