Small amounts of dioxin may also fall on plants when certain pesticides are used. Because we are learning more and more about dioxin, we know that pesticides have very small amounts of dioxin. When pesticides are used properly, the small amounts of dioxin, if any, in the pesticides will not harm people or animals. Animals eat plants that usually are not washed. Dioxin on an unwashed plant or feed that is eaten by an animal becomes part of the animal.
Animals also come in contact with dioxin when they touch or eat polluted soil.
People may come into contact with very small amounts of dioxin when we eat meat, fish, and dairy products. The Food and Drug Administration regulates these foods products to make sure that people are not exposed to harmful levels of dioxin. Any dioxin that falls on fruits and vegetables can mostly be removed by washing. Fortunately, the amount of dioxin found in most people and animals is too small to cause harmful health effects. Limited studies show that existing levels of dioxin in soils do not typically approach the levels needed to produce the health effects listed below.