Targeted for global elimination or phase-out under ongoing United Nations negotiations. Dioxin is a known endocrine disruptor. Dioxin is a toxic waste product formed when municipal and hazardous waste is burned and when chemicals containing chlorine are manufactured. Dioxins typically co-occur with chlorinated dibenzofurans, a family of 135 chemicals.
Some furans are nearly identical to dioxins in structure and toxicity.
The two chemical families are often discussed as one group. Dioxin is highly persistent in the environment and is extremely resistant to chemical or physical breakdown. It is believed that 96 percent of the general population's exposure to dioxins and dibenzofurans is through contaminated food primarily by eating the animal fat in meat, fish, poultry and dairy products. Dioxins and dibenzofurans are bioaccummulative they are stored mainly in fatty tissue and are passed up the food chain from plants to animals to humans. Stored levels of these substances remain constant or generally increase with time.