WORLD FOOD SUPPLIES CONTAMINATED WITH TOXIC CHEMICALS

16 March 2000

AMSTERDAM/LONDON -- A Greenpeace report today warns that much of the world’s food is contaminated with man made, highly toxic chemicals called persistent organic pollutants (POPs), some of the most problematic chemicals to which humans can be exposed.

The report, "Recipe for Disaster reviews existing data on food world-wide and reveals that some foodstuffs, particularly fish," meat and dairy products, contain levels of POPs that even exceed internationally agreed limits.

"Our food chain is the main route of human exposure to these highly toxic chemicals. The widespread contamination of food with man-made chemicals in both industrialised and less industrialised countries is fundamentally unacceptable," said Dr. David Santillo of Greenpeace International Science Unit. "In many cases, we are being exposed to levels in excess of the maximum intakes deemed tolerable by international bodies," he added.

Some POPs are produced intentionally, such as the pesticide DDT. Others, such as dioxins, are accidental by products of industrial and combustion processes involving chlorine. POPs are very resistant to natural breakdown and they accumulate in the environment and in the fatty tissues of animals and humans. Many are highly toxic and several have been found to disrupt the hormone system in wildlife and humans.

"Because the release of POPs is ongoing, we are continuing to add to the existing burden of persistent pollution, with the potential for severe impacts on the health of wildlife and humans. There is already much concern about the impacts of some POPs on unborn infants and children," (1) said Santillo.

The report found that ‘Tolerable Daily Intakes’ (TDIs) for toxic POPs in food, as set by The World Health Organisation (WHO), were exceeded in Spain, India and parts of Canada as well as by people in Southern Sweden and Southern Taiwan who have a high proportion of fish in their diet. It also revealed that consumption of fish oil dietary supplements may lead to excessive intake of dioxins in UK children.

Fish in Spain and Australia were found to contain particularly high levels of certain POPs in excess of maximum levels set by the WHO, as was meat in Vietnam and Mexico and dairy products in Hong Kong, Argentina and Mexico. Whale meat that is eaten in the Faroe Islands was also found to be contaminated. Even in situations in which TDIs were not exceeded, the general levels of contamination in food remains a problem as it cannot be assumed that levels below TDIs are harmless.

The report also highlights examples in which food has been contaminated from local pollution sources, such as incinerators or metal recycling and from the mixing of waste with animal feed, such as PCB contaminated oils, as was the case with last year’s dioxin chicken scandal in Belgium.

The report further discloses that the full scale of the POPs pollution problem is not yet known due to large gaps in the scientific data on levels of POPs in food. Most studies are restricted to investigating a limited range of organochlorines, such as DDT and PCBs, and many other POPs undoubtedly remain overlooked.

"Given that POPs are a global problem, it is likely that today’s findings are just a glimpse at a much more widespread problem. Unless action is taken now to phase out the production and use of POPs, and the processes which generate them, our food and environment will remain contaminated for generations to come," said Santillo.

Over a hundred countries are due to meet next week in Bonn, Germany, to negotiate the text of a global treaty that may put a global end to the accidental and deliberate production and use of POPs in the future (2).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

- Matilda Bradshaw, Greenpeace International press desk + 31 20 524 9545 or mobile + 31 6 535 04701 or David Santillo on + 44 1392 263 917

A summary of today’s report, "Recipe for Disaster" is available here:
www.greenpeace.org/~toxics/reports/recipe.html

Click the following link to download the full report in pdf: www.greenpeace.org/~toxics/reports/recipe.pdf

(1) Please refer to Dioxin Elimination: A Global Imperative.

(2) The fourth International Negotiating Committee Meeting on POPs will take place in Bonn, Germany 20th-25th March 2000.