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US Needs To Act To
Reduce Dioxins, Panel Says
By Maggie Fox Health and Science Correspondent
| WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S.
government needs to help its citizens reduce their exposure to dioxins,
in part by encouraging people to eat less meat, cheese and other sources
of animal fat, an expert panel said on Tuesday. Authorities should test for dioxins in farm animals, feed and crops, and try to find acceptable levels of the compounds, the Institute of Medicine panel said. Dioxin is the notorious toxic component in Agent Orange -- used to clear forests in the Vietnam war -- and caused the evacuation of the town of Times Beach, Missouri, in 1983 and of the Love Canal site in Niagara Falls, New York, in 1978. Dioxins have hormone-like effects on the human body and can cause cancer, infertility and other sexual changes. They persist in the environment and build up in fatty tissues and fatty products -- meaning they accumulate in the bodies of farm animals that eat contaminated feed or grass. Meat and full-fat milk carry the highest levels of dioxins. The U.S. government should do more to reduce people's risk of eating these potentially dangerous chemicals, the panel of experts appointed by the Institute of Medicine said. "The most direct way to reduce dietary exposure to dioxins is to reduce consumption of animal fat," Michael Taylor of the nonprofit group Resources for the Future and a member of the panel, told a news conference. "Since fetuses and infants are especially sensitive to the effects of toxic compounds, one part of the government's action plan should be an effort to reduce girls' and women's exposure to dioxins in foods during the years well before childbearing, so that less of these compounds accumulate in their bodies and are passed on through the placenta and breast milk," the Institute added in a statement. "To reduce dioxin exposures in all children -- especially girls -- government-sponsored food programs, such as the National School Lunch Program, should increase the availability of foods low in animal fat." The government should seek limits and test for dioxins in the human food supply, including food products, dietary supplements, and breast milk, it said. The Institute, part of the National Academy of Sciences, advises the federal government on medical matters. It appoints independent panels of experts for its reports. Other recommendations include testing forage and feed for dioxins, establishing accepted levels of the chemicals and restricting the use of animal byproducts in agriculture. Crops that may have had contact with soil must be washed and people should be encouraged to eat less fat and meat. The Institute said dioxin levels in the environment have fallen by as much as 76 percent since the 1970s. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has imposed regulations on major dioxin emitters, including municipal waste combustors, incinerators, pulp and paper operations, and sources of toxic chemicals known as PCBs. http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=570& ncid=753&e=9&u=/nm/20030701/sc_nm/health_dioxins_dc |
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