Advisory information is included in the DNR fishing regulations and can be obtained at DNR offices or any location that issues fishing licenses. Note that new advisories may be issued after the regulations are printed. Dioxins are not created intentionally, but are a byproduct of human activities. Combustion, chlorine bleaching of pulp and paper, some types of chemical manufacturing and processing, and other industrial processes can create dioxin.
Dioxins are unwanted byproducts of human activities.
Minute quantities are found in smoke and ash from motor vehicles, municipal incinerators and wood fire. A September 1999 US EPA fact sheet lists pulp and paper bleaching processes and production of some chlorinated phenols as sources. The most predominant source of dioxin currently results from incineration. Dioxins have been found in soil, surface water, sediment, plants, and animal tissue throughout the earth. Past industrial activities in the lower Kanawha Valley, especially near the city of Nitro, West Virginia, have resulted in several dioxin-contaminated sites.