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The American People's Dioxin Report
November 4, 1999
Dear Dioxin Activist,
We are thrilled to announce that we have just released America's Choice:
Children's Health or Corporate Profit, the American People's Dioxin
Report. Many community leaders and scientists, as well as the staff of
CHEJ, have spent untold hours since last January helping prepare this
report. Now the grassroots network not only has a comprehensive study of
the sources and heath effects of dioxin, but an important tool to use to
establish strong protective policies to eliminate dioxin from our
communities.
America's Choice: Children's Health or Corporate Profit consists of two
documents. The first portion is the report itself, which summarizes the
newest scientific research findings on the health effects of dioxin. The
report also includes policy recommendations for twelve sources of
dioxin. These recommendations provide clear workable solutions to
eliminating dioxin sources without hurting our economy. The second
portion is the Technical Support Document (TSD), which provides a
comprehensive report on the health effects of dioxin. Copies of the
report are available by contacting CHEJ and are also available on our
web site (www.essential.org/cchw). The Technical Support Document will
be made available exclusively on our web site as it is quite long and
detailed.
The American People's Dioxin Report is intended to accomplish three
goals:
Provide up-to-date scientific information and research on the effects
of dioxin on human health.
Provide the American people with suggested protective policies which
they can ask their elected officials to enact to prevent this
life-threatening chemical from harming our families.
Engage the American people in a national debate, community by
community, on the nature of government in our society -- how people
become powerless as the corporations become powerful -- and why our
government protects the right to pollute more than it protects the
American people's health.
The science has been written and peer reviewed by leading dioxin experts
including Dr. Beverly Paigen of Jackson Laboratories and Dr. Arnold
Schecter at the University of Texas School of Public Health (writers),
and Dr. Linda Birnbaum, US EPA and Dr. George Lucier, National Institute
for Environmental Health Sciences (reviewers). The policy
recommendations were written by more than 50 community leaders from
across the country who participated in person and via phone, fax and
e-mail, in twelve workgroups. Since there are so many sources of dioxin,
we were unable to develop recommendations for all of them. The policy
recommendations we came up with are a starting point for developing
policies for your community. Our aim was to make the recommendations
brief, yet comprehensive.
So what next, you ask. The answer is state-wide mobilization. It is
time to take this report to our elected officials. Over the next six to
eight months, public meetings and other gatherings will take place in
cities across the country. These meetings will begin the public
discussions about how to safeguard the health of the American people and
launch efforts to establish protective policies to stop dioxin exposure.
Elected officials need to enact -- and enforce -- health protections
that will get tough on dioxin-spewing industries and prevent this life
threatening chemical from harming our families. An event calendar is
included in this email. If you'd like to get involved in one of the
listed events, or organize an event in your state, please contact our
office.
This is an exciting time for all of us working to stop dioxin exposure
in our communities. Thank you for your continued efforts. We look
forward to working with you over the coming year.
For a dioxin-free future,
Monica Rohde
Dioxin Campaign Coordinator
-------------------------------------
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Paul Cates
Pro-Media Public Relations
212-245-0510
STUDY SHOWS DIOXIN EXPOSURE RELATED TO ADVERSE CHILDHOOD BEHAVIOR AND
LEARNING CAPABILITIES
(Washington, D.C.) - Scientific findings released today in a report by
the Center for Health, Environment and Justice (CHEJ) revealed that
nearly all Americans are exposed to unhealthy levels of dioxin through
normal daily consumption of food. According to the report, America's
Choice: Children's Health or Corporate Profit, children exposed to
dioxins in utero during critical periods of development appear to be the
most sensitive and vulnerable to the toxic effects.
Dioxin exposure has been associated with IQ defects, increased
prevalence of withdrawn/depressed behavior, adverse effects on
attentional processes, an increase in hyperactive behavior in children,
disrupted sexual development, birth defects and damage to the immune
system.
"Dioxin is a terribly lethal substance that can be eliminated from our
environment by making simple changes in manufacturing and waste disposal
processes," said CHEJ's Executive Director Lois Gibbs. Gibbs uncovered
the toxic poisoning, including dioxin, of families at Love Canal twenty
years ago, and has since become a leader in safeguarding the health of
America's families.
"President Clinton recently called dioxin one of the most dangerous
chemicals known when he announced that industry will now be required to
report their releases of dioxin," Gibbs continued, "It's time for
government to go beyond talking towards elimination."
Dangerous levels of dioxin are found in such common "healthy" foods as
milk, cheese and beef, giving almost all of us a higher concentration of
dioxin in our bodies than would be considered safe.
The report, compiled by CHEJ, reflects a decade's worth of research by
leading scientists and respected community leaders. The report was peer
reviewed by some of the nation's most respected scientists and health
policy experts.
In addition to the medical findings, the report provides recommendations
for ridding our environment of dioxins. Affordable, safe alternatives
now in use can, if adopted more widely, replace the chlorine in paper
mills and the incineration of medical waste that currently spew toxic
levels of dioxin into our food supply.
##
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DIOXIN PUBLIC EVENT UPDATE
With the release of America's Choice: Children's Health or Corporate
Profit the grassroots network is kicking off a series of state-wide
events, public meetings and other gatherings, to begin the public
discussions about how to safeguard the health of our families and
children and establish protective policies. This is a list of where the
events stand so far. For more information, contact the Stop Dioxin
Exposure Campaign at CHEJ, 703-237-2249.
Thursday, November 4, 1999
Newark, New Jersey
Detroit, Michigan
Saturday, November 20 - Sunday, November 21, 1999
Savannah, Georgia
Monday, November 22, 1999
Atlanta, Georgia
Pottstown, Pennsylvania
Wednesday, December 1, 1999
Rochester, New York
Saturday, December 4, 1999
Jacksonville, Florida
Saturday, January 15, 2000
Chicago, Illinois
Saturday, January 22, 2000
Charlotte, North Carolina
Friday, January 28 - Saturday, January 29, 2000
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Thursday, February 17, 2000
Seattle, Washington
Wednesday, February 23, 2000
Oakland, California
Date To Be Announced (January or February, 2000)
Green Bay, Wisconsin
Hartford, Connecticut
There are number of other events that are in the works, but do not yet
have a date or a specific location set. These include:
East Liverpool, Ohio
Columbus, Ohio
Boston, Massachusetts
Missoula, Montana
Birmingham, Alabama
Maine
--
The Center for Health, Environment and Justice was founded in 1981 by
Lois Marie Gibbs, leader of the Love Canal effort. CHEJ assists local
people to become empowered to protect their communities from
environmental threats. We are supported in part by our membership. If
you are interested in joining or contributing to CHEJ, membership dues
are $30 per year. You'll receive our quarterly magazine, Everyone's
Backyard.[CHEJ- P.O. Box 6806, Falls Church, VA 22040 / (703)-237-2249]