Belgian, worldwide dioxin contamination

["Campbell, Jon" <Campbell@Rational.Com>]

Hello, again,

      I have gotten several inquiries regarding my suggestion about
promoting a non-meat, non-dairy diet as a way to reduce dioxin intake. I
decided that I need to explain a bit more, as it is also a means for
explaining to ordinary, non-technically-oriented people what we are up
against.

      What we have here is worldwide dioxin and PCB contamination, at levels
that cause harm to humans and animals. There is irrefutable evidence of
this, from thousands of studies all over the world. The concentrations
appear to be highest in industrial countries, with the exception that
fish-eating peoples in all countries have higher concentrations of coplanar
PCBs because of universal contamination of the oceans and inland waters.

      In three successive assessments, the last one completed in 1994, the
EPA set and confirmed a "maximum allowable dose" of 0.006 picograms/kg/day
of dioxin TEQ, taking into consideration lifetime dose, for a
one-in-a-million estimated risk of serious health effect (cancer). That is
0.4 picograms of dioxin TEQ for a 70-kg adult. Of course, this estimate is
really based on thin air, as the non-cancer health effects are detectable at
far lower dosages (I believe the lowest known dose for measurable health
effects is 10 parts per quadrillion TEQ), which is not surprising given
dioxin's molecular disruption of gene function.

      In simple terms, a single 100-gram hamburger contains 250-300 times as
much dioxin as the EPA says is safe. All meat and dairy products are
universally contaminated, at various horrific levels, the worst being beef,
pork, and sea mammals and long-lived fish.

      A vegan - non-meat, non-dairy - diet typically has a thousandfold less
dioxin intake, because bio-accumulation in meat and dairy cows is precisely
the way they become so contaminated. Free-ranging dairy cattle are
particularly contaminated because cows ingest a fair amount of soil when
they eat grass, and that is precisely where the largest widespread
dioxin/PCB reservoirs are: in the top 2 or 3 centimeters of soil, since they
adhere to particulate matter.

      It is our job to get this information into the hands of the public,
and that includes telling people that it is not safe to eat meat and milk.
Vegan eating is healthier, more sustainable, less polluting, and
dramatically reduces dioxin intake.

Jon