Following the scandal of dioxin contamination of chicken and eggs in Belgium, the environ-mental organisation Greenpeace has called on governments to stop emissions of the highly toxic and carcinogenic substance.
Dioxins are among the most potent toxic chemicals ever studied.
Dioxins are produced as unintentional by-products of toxic and urban waste incineration, during the manufacture of chlorinated solvents and pesticides, and in the production and disposal of PVC plastics. Human exposure to dioxin comes primarily from food intake. At the July 1998 meeting of the Oslo-Paris Commission regulatory body for ocean pollution in the North Atlantic, environmental ministers from Europe agreed to the elimination of emissions of persistent toxic chemicals such as dioxins. But implementation has been lacking and governments are dragging their feet on the issue. The next meeting for this United Nations treaty takes place in Geneva this September.