ENCE pulp and paper mill,
Huelva, Spain.

Pulp and paper companies use chlorine and other chlorine-based bleaches (such as chlorine dioxide) in the production of bright white paper. This process produces a cocktail consisting of thousands of organochlorines - over 300 have been identified - including dioxins, furans, and other highly toxic, persistent substances. These by-products are released by the thousands of tonnes per year into local streams and in air emissions.

The paper industry is the largest source of organochlorine releases directly into the waterways of the U.S. and the world, discharging at least 4 million tonnes of organochlorines each year. Pulp mills in Sweden and Canada appear to be responsible for as much as 90 percent of all organochlorines discharged directly into the Baltic Sea and the Great Lakes, respectively.

Identified chemicals account for only 3 to 10 percent of all the organochlorines in the effluent: the majority are "mystery" chemicals that have not been assessed for their health and environmental effects. Many of these unidentified organochlorines are large, complex substances that are transformed in the environment into smaller, more persistent and toxic compounds.

Pulp mills also release significant quantities of organochlorines into the environment via air emissions, land disposal of sludge, sludge incinerator emissions and residual disposal, black liquor boiler emissions, and the pulp and paper products themselves.

There is extensive evidence that effluent from chlorine-bleaching pulp mills harms fish and aquatic ecosystems. Effects linked to pulp mill discharges and to organochlorines in particular include physical deformities, reduced gonad growth, hormonal changes and reproductive impairment, liver disorders, and changes in the structure of fish populations.

Damage to fish has been recorded as far as 40 km away from the pulp mill's discharge point. An extensive study by the Swedish EPA in 1993 was unable to determine any safe exposure level to organochlorine discharges from pulp mills.

Organochlorine by-products from pulp mills harm human health, as well. Effects associated with organochlorines formed in pulp bleaching include cancer, reproductive and developmental impairment, birth defects, enzyme induction, genotoxicity and others. Several studies published by the International Agency for Research on Cancer have demonstrated elevated risks of cancer among workers in the pulp and paper industry.

Among the best alternatives to chlorine use in the pulp and paper industry are the oxygen-based bleaches, including hydrogen peroxide, ozone, and oxygen itself. At least 55 pulp mills around the world are already producing high quality, totally chlorine-free pulp and paper, but many other mills have not yet made the switch.

Source documents for the information in this section, include:

• Pulp and Paper Briefing. Greenpeace, 1992.
  
• Comments On U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Draft Cluster Rule for the Pulp and Paper Industry. Greenpeace USA, 1994
  
• Towards Zero-Effluent Pulp and Paper Production: The Pivotal Role of Totally Chlorine-Free Bleaching. Greenpeace, 1997