What are dioxins and its disadvantages?

How to prevention and control dioxins exposure?

What are the effects of dioxins on human health?

Dioxins are a group of chemical compounds that are persistent environmental pollutant agents.         

Where to find dioxins:

1.    Dioxins are found throughout the world in the environment and they accumulate in the food chain, particularly in the fatty tissue of animals;

2.    More than ninety percent of human exposure is through food, such as meat, dairy products, fish and shellfish.   

Health hazardous of dioxins:

1.    Dioxins are highly toxic and can be causing reproductive and development of problems;

2.    Damage the immune system, interfere with hormones and cause cancer; 

3.    Due to the omnipresent of dioxins, all people have formerly exposure, which is not expected to affect human health;

4.    But due to the highly toxic potential of this kind of compounds, efforts are needed to be undertaken to decrease the current background exposure;

5.    Prevention and reduction of human exposure is best done by directed source measures that are strict control of industrial processes to reduce the formation of dioxins as much as possible. 

Environmental pollutant:

1.    Dioxins are environmental pollutants and they have doubtful distinction of belonging to the dirty dozen, a group of dangerous chemicals known as persistent organic pollutants;

2.    Dioxins are of concern because of their highly toxic potential and they affect a number of organs and systems;

3.    The more danger is once dioxins have entered the body, they endure a long time because of their chemical stability and their ability to be absorbed by fat tissue, where they are stored in the body;

4.    In the environment, dioxins tend to accumulate in the food chain;

5.    The higher in the animal food chain, the higher the concentration of dioxins.  

Sources of dioxins:

1.    Sources of dioxins are contamination;

2.    Dioxins are mainly by products of industrial processes but can result from natural processes such as volcanic eruption and forest fires;

3.    Dioxins are unwanted by products of a wide range of manufacturing activities, such as smelting, chlorine bleaching of paper pulp, producing some herbicides and pesticides;

4.    And dioxins can be released onto the environment from the uncontrolled waste incineration due to incomplete burning;

5.    Even if the formation of dioxins is local but the environmental distribution is global, therefore dioxins are found throughout the world environment. 

Places of highest levels of dioxins:

1.    The highest levels of these compounds are found in some soils, sediments and food, especially dairy products, meat, fish and shellfish;

2.    By contrary, very low levels have been found in plants, water and air. 

Effects of dioxins on human health:

1.    Short term exposure of humans to high levels of dioxins may result in skin lesions, patchy darkening of skin and altered liver functions;

2.    While long term exposure causes impairment of the immune system and the developing nervous system;

3.    Chronic exposure of animals to dioxins has resulted in several type of cancer;

4.    Due to omnipresent of dioxins, all people have background exposure and a certain level of dioxins in the body that is called body burden;

5.    Normal background is not affect human health on average but because of the high level toxic potential of these compounds efforts need to be taken to reduce current background exposure. 

Prevention and control of dioxins exposure:

1.    Proper incineration of contaminated material is the best available method of preventing and controlling exposure to dioxins;

2.    And also reduction of human exposure is done via source directed measures;

3.    Consequently protecting the food supply is critical;

4.    Contamination of food supply needs to be avoided throughout the food chain;

5.    Good controls and practices during primary production processing, distribution and sale are all essential to the production and safe food.

The Main Aim◄►Health For All ☼ Clean Environment!