"natural" dioxin

["Jon Campbell" <jon@cqs.com>]

  Hello, folks,
  
  There has been some discussion here about "natural"
  dioxin formation from the burning of coal and oil.
  
  There is a great deal of evidence that the burning of
  coal
  does *not* produce any significant amounts of dioxin.
  The studies
  of older sediment have essentially ruled out the
  "natural" production
  of dioxin. There is essentially no dioxin in sediment
  previous to 1940 (Czuczwa,  1984, 1985, 1986).
  
  Yes, nature occasionally will produce dioxin. If a
  lightning bolt were
  to hit the ocean and the brine was electrolyzed to
  free chlorine and
  the free chlorine were then to bind with the algae in
  the water, you'd get
  dioxin. Yes, that is true. And quantum mechanics tells
  us that
  there is a chance that if we were to hit our head
  against the wall
  that our head would become part of the wall. Indeed.
  
  So what is the much-publicized dioxin from fossil-fuele
  d power
  plants from? It is well-known that the oil industry
  now uses
  ORGANOCHLORINE SOLVENTS in the refining (cracking)
  process. Residues of these solvents are believed to
  cause
  dioxin formation from diesel engines. (In Great
  Britain, the 2nd largest
  producer of dioxin is diesel exhaust). It would make
  sense, then, that
  measurable dioxin from fossil-fuel power plants comes
  from this
  same residue (since fuel oil and diesel fuel are
  essentially the
  same).
  
  Does anyone know whether the oil companies use
  organochlorine
  solvents at the oil rigs? Does anyone know whether
  these solvents
  or organochlorine additives are used by power plant
  operators?
  
  
  Jon