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#390 (05/19/94): Dioxin Reassessed, Part 1 Page 7 of 9 <br /> (3) INDUSTRIAL/MUNICIPAL PROCESSES: Dioxin-like compounds are <br /> created during chlorination of naturally-occurring phenolic <br /> compounds, such as those in wood pulp. Chlorine bleaching in t <br /> manufacture of bleached pulp and paper has resulted in <br /> dioxins in paper products as well as in liquid and solid waste: <br /> from this industry. [pg. 71 <br /> (4) RESERVOIR SOURCES: Dioxin degrades very slowly once it is <br /> released into the environment. Therefore past releases of dioxi <br /> have accumulated in various "reservoirs, " such as soils, <br /> sediments, organic matter, and waste disposal sites. (The HydE <br /> Park Landfill on the edge of the Niagara River bordering New Yc <br /> and Canada has been estimated to contain as much as a ton of <br /> dioxins. See RHWN #188. ) When dioxins move from these <br /> reservoirs they can become "new sources" of dioxin for a <br /> particular locale. <br /> All together, these sources emit some 14, 000 grams (30.9 poundE <br /> of total dioxins each year in the U.S. [pg. 81 But the amount <br /> of dioxins falling on the surface of the U.S. each year is <br /> estimated to be between 20, 000 and 50, 000 grams (44.1 to 110.2 <br /> pounds) [pg. 91 . Obviously some important sources of dioxin he <br /> not yet been identified. Dioxins may be arriving from other <br /> countries, carried on the wind. EPA simply doesn't know. <br /> Dioxins fall out of the atmosphere onto the land and water and <br /> are then incorporated into the food chain, or they are <br /> discharged directly into waterways and incorporated into food <br /> chains. They tend to concentrate as they move upward in the fc <br /> chain; over 90% of the dioxins in our bodies enter with our foc <br /> The major sources of dioxin to humans are meat, fish and dairy <br /> products, though inhalation may be important near some emission <br /> http://www.monitor.net/rachel/r390.iitm1 8/13/98 <br />