Dioxin Found in Eggs from Chickens Raised in Greater Oroville Area

This is the text from the March 28 BEC press release:

A letter dated February 28, 2000 was sent to local "veterinarians and ethnic grocery stores" so the residents of Oroville, Palermo, and Thermalito would stop eating eggs or meat from chickens in the area. Dioxins and furans are present in the soil and eggs tested over a 12-year period and the "level of these chemicals in Oroville eggs and soil have not gone down with time." The Koppers wood treatment facility is believed to be the source of the contamination. There have been no media alerts or public meetings held to disseminate this health alert to the Oroville region. This press release is intended to provide the press with the critical health information to release this startling information that has been out of the public eye. "It is outrageous that the State Department of Health Services has not conducted an extensive outreach effort with the residents of the greater Oroville region," said BEC Executive Director, Barbara Vlamis. "Dioxin is the most potent man-made carcinogen and there are no acceptable levels of dioxin exposure according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency," Barbara added. More information can be found at www.becnet.org.

What is Dioxin?

Dioxin is an unintended byproduct of several industrial processes, including municipal incineration, chlorine bleaching of paper, and manufacture of chlorinated chemicals such as wood preservatives, pesticides, and herbicides. Dioxins are recognized by the Environmental Protection Agency as the most potent man-made carcinogen. In their 1994 Reassessment on Dioxin, the EPA concluded there was no safe level of exposure to dioxin, and that exposure to dioxin at extremely low levels can cause a wide range of serious health effects including: reproductive impairment, developmental injuries, and increased risk of diabetes and endometriosis.

The term dioxin can have two separate meanings. It can refer to only 2,3,7,8-tetrachloro-dibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD). It also can be used to refer to all of the different chemical congeners within the dioxins that have the same or similar toxicity levels as 2,3,7,8-TCDD (also known as toxic equivalency factors/quotients-TEFs or TEQs). This use of the term dioxin includes the dibenzofurans and PCBs—some of which are nearly as toxic as 2,3,7,8-TCDD.

Posted March 2000