top of page

The following media headlines describe the dramatic pro-active steps taken by Dioxin- educated governments to protect their citizens from eating (ingesting) foods containing traces of Dioxins.

Because Dioxins' are fat soluble, (i.e., lipophilic),  .

 

Dioxins bioaccumulate in the cells of plants, humans, and wildlife. 

 

Dioxins may cause developmental disturbances, birth defects, and cancer.

​

For their own political and economic reasons, the Canadian and American Governments are not taking similar precautionary actions to protect their citizens from ingesting Dioxin-contaminated foods.

​

Please use the perspectives contained in the following articles and take action to reduce Carbon Dioxide and Dioxin emissions from municipal waste to energy incinerators,

 

Please note, that if your government does not have a transparent agency that is proactively testing your foods for containing traces of Dioxins, the probability is that you are eating foods that have grown downwind of an incinerator's toxic plume that is located within  2,414 kilometers, (1,500 miles) of the farms where the foods were produced.

​

To protect the inventor's health, as an informed precaution, he has significantly reduced his consumption of meats, poultry and dairy products.

​

                                         -------------------------------------------------------

​

Traces of Dioxins discovered - 7 million chickens and 60,000 pigs slaughtered Holland and Belgium                                                                                                            

Belgium and the Netherlands face another dioxin crisis, after the cancer-causing chemical was detected in pig and poultry feed used by hundreds of farms.
                           
   January 31, 2006                

                                Source: http://www.feednavigator.com/Regulation/Belgium-Netherlands-meat-sectors-face-dioxin-crisis  

 

-------------------------------------------------------

 

China bans German pork and eggs in dioxin scare - tests had revealed levels of Dioxins at 77 times the permitted level in animal feed
                         Source:  From the Business Section January 12, 2011    http://www.bbc.com/news/business-12170225

-------------------------------------------------------

 

Ireland Up to 100,000 Irish pigs to be culled because of dioxin scare.

                            December 9, 2008 
                            Source:  https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2008/dec/09/irish-pork-dioxins-food-scare

 

Up to 100,000 Irish pigs are to be culled following the biggest food scare in Ireland since the BSE crisis, with thousands of jobs now at risk, it emerged yesterday.

​

The discovery of potentially harmful dioxins in Irish pork at the weekend has already led to job cuts in the Irish Republic.

​

Police have been called to investigate how PCB toxins got into animal feed used for pigs, some of whose meat was exported to Britain and up to 30 other countries.

Supermarkets and food stores across Europe began pulling Irish pork products from their shelves, and restaurants and hotels have been told not to cook dishes using potentially contaminated meat.

​

-------------------------------------------------------

​

Dioxin threat eggs from Germany baked in UK cakes                           
                                                   
January 7, 2011   Source:  http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-12133402

Eggs from German farms where animal feed has been contaminated by dioxins have been used in some British cakes and quiches, the BBC has learned.

​

The EU executive said 14 tonnes of eggs in liquid form had been exported to the UK but it was unclear if those eggs were contaminated.

​

The UK's Food Standards Agency said two UK manufacturers had used the eggs.

​

It said there was a very low risk to human health, because the eggs were diluted with other products.

​

Newly released test results on a batch of contaminated German animal feed suggest it contained more than 77 times the approved amount of dioxin.

​

The FSA said following the distribution of eggs from the now-closed German plant to the Netherlands, they were mixed with non-contaminated eggs to make pasteurised liquid egg.

​

This product has been distributed to the UK.

The cakes and quiches, sold in High Street supermarkets, have a short shelf life, BBC Radio 4's You and Yours reported.

 

-------------------------------------------------------

Swedish salmon sales breached EU ban over dioxins

                                                                                                                May 6 2013     http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-22446780

The salmon issue again highlights the complexity of Europe's food chain

Firms in Sweden have sold about 200 tonnes of Baltic salmon in Europe despite an EU ban targeting toxic chemicals in fish, officials say.

​

Dioxins found in Baltic herring and salmon prompted the EU ban in 2002.

A French firm imported 103 tonnes of Swedish salmon, but no longer does so

-------------------------------------------------------

.Human health effects of dioxins: cancer, reproductive and endocrine system effects Oxford University Press                            Source: http://humupd.oxfordjournals.org/content/7/3/331.short

Abstract

Polychlorinated dioxins, furans and polychlorinated benzene constitute a family of toxic persistent environmental pollutants.

 

In Europe, environmental concentrations increased slowly throughout this century until the late 1980s.

Dioxins have been shown to be carcinogenic in animals and humans.

​

In humans, excess risks were observed for all cancers, without any specific cancer predominating.

In specific cohorts, excess risks were observed for reproductive cancers (breast female, endometrium, breast
male, testis) but, overall, the pattern is inconsistent.

​

In animals, endocrinesystem, the network of glands and organs, reproductive and developmental effects are
among the most sensitive to dioxin exposure.

​

Decreased sperm counts in rats and endometriosis in rhesus monkeys occur at concentrations 10 times higher than current human exposure.

​

Studies noted an increased risk for diabetes after exposures to Dioxins.

 

-------------------------------------------------------

EPA announced safe oral consumption of DIOXINS is 17 billionths of a gram for 150-pound person per year.

 

The “E.P.A. announced in 2012 that the safe limit for human oral consumption of DIOXINS is 17 billionths of a gram for a 150-pound person per year.
                                                       
Source: “Incineration” Wikipedia From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia

                                                                               https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incineration#Gaseous_emissions

​

------------------------------------------------------

 

Health Canada and the World Health Organization state: “There are no safe limits for exposures to dioxins.” 

Scientific animal tests indicate that one gram of dioxins contains the potential to induce cancer in 10,000 people.

------------------------------------------------------

Dioxins in organic eggs: a review

Organic eggs contain more dioxin than conventional ones.

                   http://orgprints.org/10175/1/NJAS_54-2_207-222.pdf

Animal Sciences Group, Wageningen University and Research Centre, P.O. Box 65, NL-8200 AB Lelystad, The Netherlands

Animal Nutrition Group, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands Corresponding author (e-mail: aize.kijlstra@wur.nl)    August 2006

​

Abstract

Eggs contribute for about 4% to the daily dioxin intake of humans.

​

Research among layer farms in the Netherlands and other EU countries has shown that organic eggs
contain more dioxin than conventional ones and that a significant number of organic farms produce eggs with a dioxin content that exceeds the EU standard.

​

The hens’ intake of dioxins from various sources leads to an increase in the dioxin content of organic eggs.

​

These sources include plants, feed, soil, worms and insects, and compared with hens on conventional and free-range farms, organic hens make more use of these sources due to better access to the outdoor run.

​

Plants appear to be relatively unimportant as a source of dioxins.

​

Also, commercial organic feed generally has very low dioxin contents, but not much is known about non-commercial feed.

​

Consumption of worms and insects and particularly ingestion of soil are important causes of high dioxin levels in eggs.

​

Management interventions, like a reduction of the time the hens spend outside, may decrease the dioxin levels in organic eggs but at the same time may interfere with the image of the organic production system.

 

 

------------------------------------------------------

Dioxins in cows’ milk from dairy farms in the vicinity of Municipal Waste Incinerator at Zaandam and Alkmaar

http://www.rivm.nl/en/Documents_and_publications/Scientific/Reports/1990/februari/Dioxins_in_cow_s_milk_from_dairy_farms_in_the_vicinity_of_municipal_waste_incineratorys_at_Zaandam_and_Alkmaar                                   

                                                                    1990-02-28    RIVM Report 730501001   19 pages | Dutch

Synopsis

In this report, results are presented of a follow-up study on levels of the seventeen toxic congeners of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (together called 'dioxins') in samples of cow's milk from dairy farms in the vicinity of the municipal waste incinerators (MSWs) at Almaar and Zaandam (the Netherlands).

​

Milk samples were collected at regular intervals over a month's period (27 September - 27 October 1989) and subsequently mixed to time-averaged samples.

​

Levels of dioxins are expressed in picogram 2,3,7,8-TCDD- toxicity equivalents per gram of milk fat (pg TEQ/g).

​

Time-averaged dioxin levels in the milk of five dairy farms in Alkmaar appeared to range between 5.1 and 8.1 pg TEQ/g, 12.1 pg TEQ/g. The dioxin levels in milk of two farms in Alkmaar and of three farms in Zaandam were above the maximum allowable limit of 6 pg TEQ/g.

 

Milk samples (daily milk production) from these farms have been collected on 19 and 20 February 1990. The level in the samples from the farms in Alkmaar were below the 6 pg TEQ/g of September/October. The dioxin level in milk samples from Zaandam were all above the 6 pg-limit and were on average (10.9) not significantly different from the level in time-averaged samples of September/October.

------------------------------------------------------

Irish pork crisis                 

Irish Dioxin contaminated meet exported to Canada and other countries.

                        Source:  December 2008 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia   en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Irish_pork_crisis


“Pork supplies to a total of twenty-three countries was affected, thirteen within the European Union and the remainder outside in an area across at least three continents.

​

Countries affected include:
     Italy, Germany, Poland, Sweden,Denmark, Belgium, Estonia, the Netherlands, the UK, 
     France, Portugal, Cyprus, Romania, Russia, the United States, Canada, Switzerland, China, 

      South Korea, Japan and Republic of Singapore. “

Dioxin contaminated animal feed supplied by one Irish manufacturer to thirty-seven beef farms and nine pig farms across Republic of Ireland, and eight beef farms and one dairy farm in Northern Ireland, had caused the contamination of pork with between 80 and 200 times the EU's recommended limit for dioxins and dioxin-like PCBs 

​

------------------------------------------------------

Dioxin threat eggs from Germany baked in UK cakes

                                                                                                                          January 7 2011   http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-12133402

Eggs from German farms where animal feed has been contaminated by dioxins have been used in some British cakes and quiches, the BBC has learned.

​

The EU executive said 14 tonnes of eggs in liquid form had been exported to the UK but it was unclear if those eggs were contaminated.

​

Newly released test results on a batch of contaminated German animal feed suggest it contained more than 77 times the approved amount of dioxin.

​

The FSA said following the distribution of eggs from the now-closed German plant to the Netherlands, they were mixed with non-contaminated eggs to make pasteurised liquid egg.

​

This product has been distributed to the UK.

​

The cakes and quiches, sold in High Street supermarkets, have a short shelf life, BBC Radio 4's You and Yours reported.

 

------------------------------------------------------

Dioxins - Elevated levels of dioxins in human milk exposes infants - EPA 2003

 

E.P.A. 5.0. POTENTIALLY ELEVATED EXPOSURES

This section will show how breast milk ingestion [Dioxin] exposures, which are higher during breast-feeding, on a body weight basis, than during any other period in an individual’s life, impact lifetime exposures and body burdens.

                       Source:  http://www.epa.gov/ncea/pdfs/dioxin/nas-review/pdfs/part1_vol2/dioxin_pt1_vol2_ch05_dec2003.pdf

 

------------------------------------------------------

 

Dioxins Iceland Incinerators Releasing Dioxins into Fjörds and Farmlands that contaminated tons of milk and meat.

                                                                      February 8, 2015              http://grapevine.is/news/2011/02/08/dioxin-poisoning-in-meat/

 

The Icelandic Food and Veterinary Authority estimates that some six and half tonnes of meat, distributed both here and for export, has been poisoned with dioxins.

​

This meat has already been eaten by consumers.

​

As has been reported, incinerators in the West Fjörds, the Westman Islands and in Kirkjubæjarklaustur have been shown to be emitting dioxin, a highly toxic chemical that was at one time used to make the notorious herbicide Agent Orange.

​

The matter was first brought to light when dairy producers in the northwest detected unusually high amounts of dioxin in milk.

​

RÚV reports that the meat in question is supposed to have originated in Skutulsfjörður. 384 lambs, at three different farms, are suspected to have had high amounts of dioxin. After these lambs were slaughtered, about a tonne and a half of their meat was put on the market in Iceland, with the remaining five tonnes were exported.

Dioxins Iceland Incinerators Releasing Dioxins into Fjörds and Farmlands that contaminated tons of milk and meat

 

------------------------------------------------------

Illegal levels of dioxin found in milk on farms in Northern Ireland -The Guardian

Contamination thought to come from imported animal feed 

                    February 6, 2009   Source: https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2009/feb/06/dioxin-contamination-milk-northern-ireland

 

Milk contaminated with illegally high levels of the chemical dioxin has been found on farms in Northern Ireland, it was announced today.

​

The contamination is thought to come from animal feed imported from the Irish Republic that was responsible for contaminated pork and beef being removed from the shelves just before Christmas.

​

------------------------------------------------------

 

The American People’s Dioxin Report By The Center for Health Environment And Justice

                                             http://chej.org/wp-content/uploads/Documents/American%20Peoples%20Dioxin%20Report.pdf

 

“The scientific findings of this report make it clear that there is an extensive body of high-quality scientific information describing the toxic effects of dioxin in people.”

The report's most striking finding is the impact of dioxin on the growth and development of children.

​

Table of Contents Policy Recommendations

 • Introduction

• Municipal Waste Incineration

• Medical Waste Incineration

• Hazardous Waste Incineration

• Cement and Aggregate Kilns

• Pulp and Paper

• Polyvinyl Chloride Plastic

• Pesticides

• Petroleum Manufacturing

• Metallurgical Processes

• Clean Up of Contaminated Sites

• Coal

 • Industrial Burning of Treated Wood

 

Tables

1. Inventory of Sources of Dioxin in the United States

2. Dioxin Levels in U.S. Foods

3. Dioxin Levels in Pooled Breast Milk Samples from Various Countries

4. Daily Intake of Dioxin (TEQ) Compared to Established Guidelines

5. Animal Body Burden Levels Associated with Sensitive Adverse Effects

​

Appendix

This report provides a summary of new scientific research on the toxic effects caused by or associated with exposure to dioxin. The information in this report is drawn from a comprehensive assessment of the sources, fate, and health effects of dioxin contained in the Technical Support Document (TSD) to this report.

​

The key points and conclusions of the TSD provide the basis for this report. Most of the research and studies discussed in this report have been published since a well publicized draft report on dioxin was released by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 1994.

​

The American People's Dioxin Report is intended to inform the public and their representatives in government so appropriate action can be taken to safeguard the health of the American people.

The scientific findings of this report make it clear that there is an extensive body of high-quality scientific information describing the toxic effects of dioxin in people.

​

This data indicates that dioxin is a potent chemical that produces a wide variety of toxic effects in animals and that some of these effects are occurring in people.

​

The report's most striking finding is the impact of dioxin on the growth and development of children.

​

Most of the new studies on dioxin address its effects on children, notably the effects on the development of the immune, reproductive, and nervous systems, in particular cognitive and learning abilities.

​

While exposure of the general population occurs through ingestion of many common foods, children exposed in utero (in the womb) during critical periods of development appear to be the most sensitive and vulnerable to the toxic effects of dioxin.

​

In particular, dioxin has been associated with IQ deficits and increased susceptibility to infections in Dutch children exposed to "background" levels of dioxins. (These "background" levels are essentially the average daily intake of dioxin from food.)

​

Studies in Finland have shown that dioxin interferes with normal tooth development in infants exposed to "background" levels.

​

The Dutch studies have also shown an association between dioxin and a higher prevalence of withdrawn/depressed behavior in children.

​

An association between PCBs and adverse effects on attentional processes and an increase in hyperactive behavior in children has also been reported in these studies.

​

This new evidence from human studies provides strong confirmation of the toxicity of dioxin and its impact on the general American public.

------------------------------------------------------

​

​

------------------------------------------------------

​

Milk feared to contain cancer linked dioxins UK  

High exposure to chemicals in the dioxin family has been associated with a variety of health problems, including cancer, lowered sperm counts, behavioural problems and diabetes. 

                                                                       May 26, 2001   
                                                                                                     Source:  http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2001/may/26/footandmouth.jamiewilson

 

Milk in a small number of farms close to foot and mouth funeral pyres could have become contaminated with potentially dangerous dioxins, the food standards agency warned yesterday.

But the government watchdog stressed that the risk was small and did not apply to bulk milk sold by supermarkets and large dairies.

​

As a precautionary measure, however, it has advised people consuming whole milk products from farms where animals have grazed within 2km of foot and mouth pyres to consider varying their diet to include milk from other sources until the results of tests on dioxin levels are known.

​

The agency has written to 15,000 of Britain's 30,000 dairy farmers warning that there may be a "slightly higher, although still very small, risk" for customers consuming full fat milk, cream, yoghurt and soft cheese bought from farm shops and very small dairies.

Despite the huge mailshot the FSA said it was likely that yesterday's warning applied to only around 900 farmers.

 

-------------------------------------------------

​

Illegal levels of dioxin found in milk on farms in Northern Ireland 

 Contamination thought to come from imported animal feed 
Food Standards Agency says health risks is extremely low

      February 6, 2009  Source: http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2009/feb/06/dioxin-contamination-milk-northern-ireland

 

Milk contaminated with illegally high levels of the chemical dioxin has been found on farms in Northern Ireland, it was announced today.

​

The contamination is thought to come from animal feed imported from the Irish Republic that was responsible for contaminated pork and beef being removed from the shelves just before Christmas.

An FSA spokesman said: "Milk from two dairy farms in Northern Ireland has been stopped from entering the food chain following test results that show dioxin levels above legal limits.

-------------------------------------------------

​

Netherlands - Dioxins in Fish

                            June 2007  
                                        Source: http://paperity.org/p/36322990/polychlorinated-dibenzo-p-dioxins-dibenzofurans-and-biphenyls-in-fish-from-the

Fish from Dutch markets were analysed for concentrations of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins/dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (DL-PCBs) and compared with the new European maximum residue levels (MRLs), set in 2006.

​

In a first study on 11 different fish and shellfish from various locations, concentrations of PCDD/Fs were nearly all below the MRL for PCDD/Fs [4 pg toxic equivalents (TEQ) per gram wet weight (ww)] and nearly all below 8 pg total TEQ/g ww, the new MRL for the sum of PCDD/Fs and DL-PCBs. Some samples exceeded the total TEQ MRL, such as anchovy, tuna and sea bass.

​

Furthermore, 20 (out of 39) wild eel samples exceeded the specific MRL for eel (12 pg total TEQ/g ww), as the study revealed PCDD/F TEQ levels of 0.2–7.9 pg TEQ/g ww and total TEQ values of 0.9 to 52 pg/g ww.

​

TEQ levels in farmed and imported eel were lower and complied with the MRLs. Smoking eel, a popular tradition in the Netherlands, only had marginal effects on PCDD/F and DL-PCB concentrations.

Owing to volatilization, concentrations of lower-chlorinated PCBs were reduced to below the limit of quantification after smoking. DL-PCBs contributed 61–97% to the total TEQ in all eel samples.

This also holds for other fish and shellfish (except shrimps): DL-PCB contributed (on average) from 53 (herring) to 83% (tuna) to the total TEQ. Principal-component analysis revealed distinctive congener profiles for PCDD/Fs and non-ortho PCBs for mussels, pikeperch, herring and various Mediterranean fish.

​

The application of new TCDD toxic equivalency factors (TEFs) set by the World Health Organization in 2006 (to replace the 1997 TEFs) resulted in lower TEQ values, mainly owing to a decreased mono-ortho PCB contribution. This decrease is most pronounced for eel, owing to the relative high mono-ortho PCB concentrations in eel. Consequently, a larger number of samples would comply with the MRLs when the new TEFs are applied.

​

The DR CALUX® assay may be used for screening total TEQ levels in eel, in combination with gas chromatography–high resolution mass spectrometry confirmation of suspected samples.

An almost 1:1 correlation was found when the 1997 TEFs were applied, but, surprisingly, a 1.4-fold overestimation occurred with application of the 2006 TEFs.

:                                                                   http://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2Fs00216-007-1352-6.pdf

bottom of page