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Re: Dioxins in Belgian butter - Chicken and meat - French raw milkcheeses
Hi, Jon and Heather. I'd don't have my copy of the EPA's 1994 Dioxin
Reassessment handy, but I doubt that the EPA "made clear" that all meats
are unsafe due to dioxin contamination, at least not by stating it in that
way. If anything, the EPA probably referred to AVERAGE existing body
burdens of dioxins, AVERAGE daily doses of dioxins, and the amount of
dioxins in AVERAGE hamburgers, etc. as exceeding certain thresholds.
The EPA also indicated that dioxins are ubiquitous in our environment,
or pretty dang near it. But it's pretty unlikely that the EPA said that
all types of meats from all sources were contaminated above certain
thresholds.
That said:
1) I'm a vegetarian and for, all sorts of reasons, I'm glad when others
don't eat meat.
2) When I was staying current with the literature several years ago,
the consensus seemed to be that no one had found a dose below
which dioxin did not alter fundamental cell chemistry. The debate
centered more on whether those changes constitute harm, and if so,
how much and to whom, etc.
3) Also, at that time the EPA typically assumed, at least for some
purposes, that the dose-response curve for carcinogens,
including dioxin, starts at zero -- meaning any dose has the
potential to cause cancer. Don't know if that's the EPA
convention these days. But in any case, I doubt many people would
argue that cancer does not fall within the category of "Harm." So
by that line of argument, one could say that any level of dioxin
in meat is unsafe because it has the potential to cause cancer.
Even though animals tend to concentrate dioxin and other
toxins in their flesh, milk and eggs at levels higher than one
would generally find in plant tissues, one might apply the same
standard to veggies, water, etc.
4) As for 2 and 3, I'd say it's generally unwise to screw
around with basic biological processes the way dioxin does.
And no one has the moral right to expose others to toxins or
carcinogens, especially when those who might be injured are
exposed without: a) their knowledge of the exposure; b) their
knowledge of the potential risks; and c) their consent.
So we should do what we can to eliminate the generation and
release of dioxin emissions and to reduce as much as people's
exposure to dioxin. If people choose to eat contaminated meat,
they should at least be informed of the risks.... Telling
them ahead of time would be the neighborly thing to do.
Least that's what I think.... right now.
Greg Smith
On Fri, 11 Jun 1999, Jon Campbell wrote:
> Date: Fri, 11 Jun 1999 17:53:40 -0400
> From: Jon Campbell <jon@cqs.com>
> To: Multiple recipients of list DIOXIN-L <dioxin-l@essential.org>
> Subject: Re: Dioxins in Belgian butter - Chicken and meat - French raw milk
cheeses
>
> Heather,
>
> You are absolutely right. Dioxin bioaccumulation is at levels in all
> meat, whether Belgian or not, with dangerous levels of dioxin. The 1994 EPA
> Dioxin Reassessment made that clear. 300 times the daily "acceptable" dose
> in a single hamburger for typical US beef.
>
> See http://www.cqs.com/edioxin.htm
>
> Jon
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Heather <hk3219@ark.ship.edu>
> To: Multiple recipients of list DIOXIN-L <dioxin-l@essential.org>
> Date: Thursday, June 10, 1999 4:15 PM
> Subject: Re: Dioxins in Belgian butter - Chicken and meat - French raw milk
> cheeses
>
>
> >hello,
> >
> >while my comment won't be worth much, i felt like giving my two cents.
> >it is beneficial for humans to not consume any animal products anyway,
> >one reason being bioaccumulation of chemicals like dioxin in them.
> >i think focusing on issues of complete nonvoluntary exposure to dioxins
> >is more important. thanks.
> >
> >Heather
> >
> >
> >-------------------------------------------------------------------------
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> >on your governor, reps, and senators!
> >_________________________________________________________________________
> >**********************************************************************
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> >OF LATIN AMERICANS? No? Consider calling your federal representative today
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> >both bills will CLOSE the US citizen tax-funded US Army School of the
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> > http://www.soaw.org
> >**********************************************************************
> >
> >On Thu, 10 Jun 1999, Emmanuel de Broux wrote:
> >
> >> Dear listers,
> >>
> >> The Belgian government had decided, a few days ago, to forbid the sale of
> >> Belgian butter (min. 82 percent fat) in Belgium because of its too high
> >> dioxin content. Surprisingly, cheese (45 percent fat typ.) sale could be
> >> persued. Several countries have then decided to forbid Belgian butter
> imports.
> >>
> >> There is something hypocritical about all this. There is dioxins in milks
> >> collected in the Netherlands, in Belgium, in France and most probably in
> >> other countries too. This is a fact known since several years but it is
> >> totally ignored by the Belgian Press. Butter made with these milks also
> >> contains dioxins.
> >>
> >> So, Belgium is considered by the European Union "experts" as the only
> >> country to be blamed for this. I guess that commercial afterthoughts are
> >> not absent here.
> >>
> >> In Belgium, the situation is still chaotic for what concerns chicken,
> pork
> >> and beef meat. But it is not the only country where poor practices in the
> >> production of animal food have been discovered. In fact, an article in
> the
> >> French satiric newspaper published last Wednesday, Le Canard Enchainé,
> >> reports horrifying practices having taken place in France. The matching
> >> article published by the Belgian newspaper La Libre Belgique is attached
> >> (sorry, it is in French).
> >>
> >> That article also reports that listeria has been found in French raw goat
> >> milk cheese. Considering that listeria is much more dangerous than
> dioxins,
> >> in the short term anyway, we still wait in Belgium for a reaction by the
> EU.
> >>
> >> Best regards.
> >
>
Greg Smith
Coordinator
Campaign to Stop the ICC
301-987-7637
|| Internet: gsmith@essential.org