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APRIL 12, 2001

A forthcoming Environmental Protection Administration report on how dioxins in food can lead to cancer in humans is being opposed by various industry groups and Republicans and may be delayed.

Dioxins are created in a number of situations and are the byproduct of products or waste containing chlorine. Waste incinerators or burning backyard trash can create dioxins, which are then transferred through the air.

Dioxins end up accumulating in the fat of animals. Indigenous populations who rely on subsistence hunting, fishing, and farming have been reported to have twice the levels of dioxins than others.

The report, the work of more than a decade, is expected this summer.

Get the Story:
Dioxin Report By EPA On Hold (The Washington Post 4/12)

Relevant Links:
How POPs threaten the Natural Environment and the Future of Indigenous Peoples - http://www.ienearth.org/pops_threat-p1.html
The Indigenous Environmental Network - http://www.ienearth.org
Contaminants in Alaska - http://www.state.ak.us/dec/deh/contaminants.htm
Persistent Organic Pollutants, the United Nations - http://irptc.unep.ch/pops

Related Stories:
Alaska hails pollutant treaty (12/13)
Negotiations begin to ban pollutants (12/5)
Alaska Natives call for toxin study (10/13)
Scientists trace Arctic pollution to US (10/4)
Dioxins are everywhere (10/4)