Dioxins, Paper Pulping, and Greenpeace

Among those things that scare us the most in these chemophobic times is dioxin. This fear is rooted in the efforts of a group of fund-raising entities which purport to act in the interests of the environment and human health. As might be expected, the fund-raising potential of these organizations is directly correlated to the level of terror that can be generated among the public. As a result, policy is made on the basis of poor science.

Dioxin is a generic term used to describe a family of compounds. There are a number of these chlorinated molecules. The most toxic example is 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD).

Dioxins are said to be persistent. This is true. However, it is also vague. Sadly, advantage is taken of an ignorant American public by calling these molecules "persistent" and then not quantifying their lifetime. Most people would equate "persistent" with "forever." The half-life of the most toxic dioxin is 10 years in humans.

The group of Arnold J. Schecter at the State University of New York, Clinical Campus, Binghamton, recently reported total daily exposure to dioxins in the U.S. is 18 to 192 picograms (approximately 0.000000000000001 pounds). This is about 50 times higher than the EPA's usual acceptable health risk, not more than 100 times as is often reported. It is important to remember that the risk associated with this level of exposure is unknown. Too little is yet known to make a judgment based on real data. An arbitrary "low" value is chosen based more on our ability to detect these compounds than on any effect they may cause.

Dioxins never presented a significant human health risk. Bruce Ames, department chair of biochemistry at the University of California at Berkeley and Nobel prize winner for his carcinogen screening test, describes possible human carcinogen hazards with an index called Human Exposure to Rodent Potency (HERP). He has assigned HERP values to a variety of possible carcinogens. The HERP value for most chlorinated organics (the class of compounds to which dioxins belong) is generally in the range of 0.0003%. On the other hand, the alcohol in a 12 oz. beer incurs a risk of 2.8%.

It is now generally conceded that the $138 million spent to evacuate and clean up Times Beach, MO of the tiny traces of dioxin found there was wasted. The cleanup was ordered by Dr. Vernon Houk of the Centers for Disease Control who now says, "Given what we now know about this chemical's toxicity, it looks as though the evacuation was unnecessary."

As late as 1989, the only known health risk of dioxin exposure was chloracne--a painful skin condition with no lasting effects. It is only since 1992 that we have come to understand that dioxins can disrupt endocrine systems, at times acting as antiandrogens, at other times as antiestrogens or even estrogens. Greenpeace cleverly claims that dioxins may cause cancer. Indeed, almost anything may cause cancer. There is not a shred of credible evidence available that any link exists between dioxins and cancer.

There are many sources of dioxin in the environment. Only about 50% of them have been identified. Combustion of material containing chlorine accounts for about 95% of all dioxins released. A significant portion of all environmental dioxins is natural. Forest fires provide the most common mechanism.

Of course, you can't litigate against forest fires. Therefore, the environmental machine has taken aim at the remaining 5% of dioxin generators. The paper pulp industry has become the target of choice. Leading the way is Greenpeace with its stated goal of ultimately eliminating all chlorine uses. (Of course, this will eventually force Greenpeace into the position of requiring the oceans to be banned. But that is a story for another day.) The story of the pulp and paper industry might legitimately be called impressive. Since 1988 dioxin levels from pulp bleaching have declined 92%. Dioxin is now not detectable in the waste water of over 90% of U.S. paper mills.

While Greenpeace continues to fan the fires of dioxin hysteria, industry continues to refine processes to reduce dioxin emissions. Environmental dioxin levels peaked in 1970 and have declined every year since. Human dioxin levels peaked in 1980 and have declined since.

As Greenpeace continues to engage in piracy on the open seas, the American public continues to rely on this organization to provide technical information and research. Greenpeace has openly admitted that it spends far more resources on political activism than it does on scientific training of its soldiers or on original research.

Were we to engage in the delicate ballet of innuendo and word games that Greenpeace has raised to an art form, we might suggest that it is possible that the Rainbow Warrior's engines spill more dioxin into the air than the pulp and paper industry.

References
1. Warren Brookes, Detroit News, (9-21-91) 11A.
2. Bette Hileman, Janice R. Long, and Elisabeth M. Kirschner, Chemical and Engineering News, (11-21-94) 12-26.
3. Arnold J. Schecter, et. al., Environ. Health Perspect., 102 (1994) 962.
4. Chemical and Engineering News, (11-14-94) 31.
5. P. M. Pauksta, TAPPI Journal, 78 (Sept. 1995) 50-1.
6. Robert J. Samuelson, Newsweek, (4-10-95) 46.
7. Chemical Week, (4-29-87) 10-1.