Thursday, February 6, 2003 TODAY
School of Public Health news
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| A press conference disclosing news on dioxin was held Monday, January 27. Participants included (from left) Rick Hind, legislative director, Greenpeace Toxics Campaign; Edward K. Fujimoto, DrPH, MPH, CHES, professor and coordinator of DrPH program in preventive care, School of Public Health, LLU; and Linda Birnbaum, PhD, division director of the experimental toxicology division, national health and environmental effects laboratory, office of research and development, United States Environmental Protection Agency. |
Thanks to Edward K. Fujimoto, DrPH, MPH, CHES, professor and coordinator of DrPH
program in preventive care, many people know more about dioxin and persistent
organic pollutants (POPs).
On January 27, the School of Public Health continuing professional education
held a one-day seminar and press conference on dioxin and POPs—highly toxic
endocrine disrupting chemicals that are found in food, causing cancer and other
serious health problems.
Dr. Fujimoto invited top experts from the Environmental Protection Agency and
Greenpeace International to come speak about this global problem at the seminar
and conference.
Linda Birnbaum, PhD, division director of the experimental toxicology division,
national health and environmental effects laboratory, office of research and
development, at the United States Environmental Protection Agency, Triangle Park,
North Carolina, disclosed the risks of dioxin on one’s health. She also
explained the sources of dioxin, government policy regarding dioxin, and exposure
risk assessment.
“ There is no safe level for dioxin,” Dr. Birnbaum states.
Kim Hooper, PhD, head of the biomonitoring group, hazardous materials laboratory,
California Environmental Protection Agency in Berkeley, California, spoke about
the primary prevention and the value of community-based body burden monitoring
using breast milk.
“ In the past 25 years we have learned a lot about dioxin,” says
Dr. Hooper, “but,
unfortunately, it hasn’t ended in regulation.”
The EPA is completing a 12-year process of reassessing dioxin’s health
risks which will guide the agency in developing future regulations.
Rick Hind, legislative director, Greenpeace Toxics Campaign, Greenpeace U.S.
in Washington, D.C., talked about the global responsibility for preventive measures
to reduce exposure.
“ This is a global crisis,” Mr. Hind states. “We have soiled
our nest.”
Dioxins enter the food chain through burned chlorinated materials. Dioxins produced
from that spreads by wind and rain. The toxic chemicals then settle on soil and
plants, as well as in river and lakes. Finally, it is ingested by fish and animals.
The dioxins build up in fatty tissue and remain for years.
To reduce one’s exposure to dioxin, here are a few tips: Eat a low-fat,
high fiber diet; avoid food from the higher levels of the food chain (dairy products,
meat, fish, shellfish, poultry); eat foods as close as possible to organic and
natural state; and do not prepare or store high-fat food in plastic containers.
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Thursday, February 6, 2003 TODAY
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