Perhaps food labels could include dioxin levels, says Michael Jacobson, executive Director of Center for Science in the Public Interest, an advocacy organization. Maybe consumers would begin to eat less greasy fatty food if they were told how much dioxin was in each serving. Developing fetuses and infants are most at risk from the effects of dioxins, Schecter declares. Birth defects, learning disabilities and other development problems have been linked to dioxin exposure, according to the studies. In just six months of breast feeding, a baby in the United States will, on average, consume the EPA's maximum lifetime dose of dioxin, Schecter says.
Breast milk contains high levels of fat.
The amount of chemicals required to disrupt normal development could be as low as one part in a trillion, he says, the equivalent of a single drop of liquid placed in the center car of a 10- kilometer long cargo train. Dioxins are also highly persistent in the environment and extremely resistant to chemical or physical breakdown. Schecter, who has been involved with dioxin and PCB studies in Russia, China, Cambodia, the Middle East, and Vietnam, as well as the United States, points to the widespread contamination by dioxin. From penguins in Antarctica to rains that fall in South East Asia to the milk of a nursing mother in Germany, synthetic chemicals have been found. Despite his gloomy conclusions, Schecter remains hopeful that the problem can be overcome.