The EPA estimates that cancer risk from dioxin exposure to the general population is now as high as one in one hundred, according to recently leaked EPA briefing documents from an internal Agency briefing on May 10th. This is the first time, after nine years of study, that the EPA concluded that dioxin was a human carcinogen. This also includes non-cancer health effects such as developmental toxicity, immunotoxicity, endometriosis and diabetes. In a letter to the EPA today Greenpeace called upon the EPA to immediately release the dioxin report and implement a Dioxin Emergency Action Plan to prevent and eliminate new dioxins. This is the best moment in history to tell the giant chlorine producers, such as Dow Chemical, that judgement day is finally here and stalling will no longer be tolerated.
Incinerators produce dioxin because they burn chlorine-laden wastes.
Fortunately most dioxin exposures are preventable. EPA decisions on whether to allow the dioxin laden PVC industry to expand in Lake Charles, Louisiana, where dioxin levels are four times the national average in the blood of local citizens. For 15 years Greenpeace has advocated a dioxin prevention strategy through a materials substitution policy. Such a policy would require chlorine-free substances in the manufacture of products.