Dioxin problems

I did some reading into what exactly dioxins are, the chemical that Viktor Yushchenko was poisoned with. I didn't know anything about Agent Orange, herbicide clearance, or Dow Chemical until I read this; it's worth the time.

"Dioxins are some of the most toxic chemicals known to science. Dioxin is a general term that describes a group of hundreds of chemicals that are highly persistent in the environment. The most toxic compound is 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin or TCDD. The toxicity of other dioxins and chemicals like PCBs that act like dioxin are measured in relation to TCDD. Dioxin is formed as an unintentional by-product of many industrial processes involving chlorine such as waste incineration, chemical and pesticide manufacturing and pulp and paper bleaching. Dioxin was the primary toxic component of Agent Orange, was found at Love Canal in Niagara Falls, NY and was the basis for evacuations at Times Beach, MO [as detailed below] and Seveso, Italy."

- Environmental Justice Network

"Disposal of the dioxin contaminated materials was a huge problem to the company. They initially send the still bottoms to Louisiana for incineration, which is still be best way to destroy dioxin, but it was expensive. It then contracted its chemical supplier, Independent Petrochemical Corporation, for disposal. Independent then subcontracted Russell Bliss to haul the waste away. Later, during the Times Beach investigations, it was revealed that NEPACCO knew of the dioxins in the waste but some how this information was not passed on to Independent or to Bliss. The investigation also found that the contaminated clay and water had also mysteriously found their way into the local environment.


The contaminated clay was the easiest to trace. Most of them were buried on location in the plant itself. Some were disposed in a dump that was later transformed into a park and the rest was sold to unsuspecting farmers to spread on the ground under the assumption that it would prevent hoof root in cattle. Some of these contaminated clays were subsequently washed into the nearby Spring River in a flood in 1982. This however was not the first time that dioxin had entered the local food chain."

- Brandeis University, MA


The Times beach Investigation - Brandeis University, MA
Times Beach - Wikipedia
Dioxin Information links