-Caveat Lector- http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2559425333-2a0 04:20 PM ET 05/04/99 Dioxin Exposure Linked to Cancer Dioxin Exposure Linked to Cancer By PAUL RECER= AP Science Writer= WASHINGTON (AP) _ Chemical workers exposed to high levels of dioxin have a 60 percent increased chance of dying of cancer, but the chemical poses no added cancer risk to the general population, a study says. Kyle Steenland, co-author of the study appearing Wednesday in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, said the research suggests most people typically are not currently exposed to dangerous levels of dioxin and that cancer appears to result only among those who had extremely high and long-term exposures to the chemical 15 to 20 years ago. ``There is not a significant increase in cancers until you get to the upper'' exposure levels, Steenland said Tuesday in a telephone interview. ``This is not raising a red flag by saying that low level exposure is causing a lot of cancer.'' He called the finding ``reassuring'' from a public health stand point. Steenland, a researcher with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, said that the amount of dioxin in the environment is steadily declining because the products most commonly linked to the chemical are no longer being made. Dioxin was a byproduct in the manufacture of herbicides and pesticides that were in common use decades ago. Production of the chemicals halted in the mid 1980s, and the environmental contamination has dropped steadily since. However, for those who experienced high exposures, the chemical can persist in the body for decades. Dioxin is one of the chemicals in Agent Orange, the herbicide used by the United States to kill jungle vegetation during the Vietnam War. Hundreds of American troops were exposed to the chemical, but not at the high levels experienced by many chemical plant workers, said Steenland. Dr. Robert N. Hoover, of the National Cancer Institute, said that the study by Steenland and his colleagues is ``a critical piece of evidence'' that shows dioxin, at its present levels in the environment, appears to present no significant threat to general public health. ``The bad news from this study is the evidence that dioxin at high exposures is a'' cancer-causing chemical, said Hoover. ``The good news is that the low levels of exposure (now in the environment) are not likely to contribute much disease.'' In the study, Steenland examined the health record of some 3,500 chemical workers who were exposed to dioxin on the job during the 1960s, '70s and '80s for periods of six months to 20 years. Among workers with the highest exposure rate there was a 60 percent increase in cancer deaths when compared to the rate of cancer deaths among the general public. This increase, said Steenland, was seen only in those workers whose dioxin exposure was 100 to 1,000 times higher than the background exposure of the general public. Steenland said that dioxin seemed to cause all types of cancer. ``The cancer elevation is not in some specific organ,'' he said. ``We saw it in respiratory tract cancers and in digestive tract cancer. It was across the board.'' Steenland said the public health threat of dioxin is declining because nobody is regularly exposed to the high levels that once were common among chemical plant workers. ``Dioxin is not being added to the environment at anywhere near the rate it once was,'' he said. ``It is still produced by incinerators when they burn plastics, but it is becoming less and less.'' DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
