New Zealand: Dioxin Test Method Questioned
Of particular concern was that there were only three Ministry of Health dioxin soil results available, taken in 1985 and 1996 around the Dow Agrosciences' site.
TRC queries dioxin-test method 03 MAY 2001 By ROCHELLE WARRANDER The Taranaki Regional Council (TRC) has questioned the Ministry of Health's reliance on serum blood testing to calm Paritutu residents' fears that dioxin might have affected their health.
In an internal memo, made public at Monday's TRC consents and regulatory committee meeting, technical services manager Gary Bedford said there was a lack of data on levels of dioxin in soil around Paritutu.
"It is inappropriate for council staff to comment upon the design of the (Ministry of Health's) study . . . however, from a broader perspective, it is of serious concern to this council that the serum testing alone is being relied on to resolve the anxieties of residents, to ascertain the possibility of future harm, and to determine the extent of any remediation that may be required," Mr Bedford said.
Of particular concern was that there were only three Ministry of Health dioxin soil results available, taken in 1985 and 1996 around the Dow Agrosciences' site.
While the TRC was undertaking comprehensive testing of 31 alleged dioxin dump sites throughout New Plymouth at the cost of about $50,000, it believed the Ministry of Health should conduct further dioxin tests around the chemical plant and Paritutu.
Many Paritutu residents believe that dioxin emissions from the chemical plant, formerly Ivon Watkins-Dow which manufactured the herbicide
2,4,5-T at the site from the early 1960s until 1987, have contributed to their health problems.
The Ministry of Health is expected to start serum blood testing up to 100 Paritutu residents in July.
"The lack of hard data makes any discussion on the extent or costs of any remediation wildly speculative and unhelpful to the residents, who above all seek certainty and clear information," Mr Bedford said.
But the Ministry of Health deputy director general of public health, Don Matheson, said serum blood tests of Paritutu residents were being taken as a way of determining their exposure in comparison with New Zealand background levels.
The public health service in Taranaki was also carrying out cluster investigations to see if Paritutu residents suffered from an unusually high level of health problems such as multiple sclerosis, cancer and birth defects.
"There will need to be further investigation if it is shown that the disease rate or the serum dioxin levels for New Plymouth residents are higher than the average population," Dr Matheson said.
Ray Salter, from the Ministry for the Environment, said the ministry supported the TRC's testing of alleged dioxin dump sites, and believed those tests should ensure the environmental concerns in Paritutu were addressed appropriately.
However, Mr Bedford said it was imperative to conduct a comprehensive survey to accurately assess past and present exposure to dioxin, evaluate the possible ways it could have affected people's health, and find out how much land had been affected and to what extent.
"For example, there does not appear to be any opportunity to correlate the result of serum testing to dioxin levels in residential gardens or to the percentage of individual diet derived from those gardens.
"It would seem appropriate to encourage the ministry to undertake comprehensive soil analyses within the residential areas around the Dow Agrosciences plant, for the sake of the residents and as good science upon which to base critical decisions."
Mr Bedford stressed, however, that it would not be the council's responsibility to foot the bill for expensive soil tests, because the possible release of dioxin by Dow was historic, at a time when the Ministry of Health was responsible for Dow's air discharges.
Dioxin Investigation Network spokesperson Andrew Gibbs said he was impressed that the TRC was pushing the Health Ministry to conduct its own dioxin tests.
"The main health issue is not the dumps, but the historic airborne emissions by Dow. The Ministry of Health has to address the soil levels that are historic of those airborne emissions. The dioxin soil levels would be lower today than they were in the past, so it makes you wonder how high they were back then," Mr Gibbs said.
A Ministry of Health soil test taken on the boundary of Ivon Watkins-Dow in 1986 had a dioxin rating of 310 parts per trillion (ppt). The highest level recorded in Vietnam was 898ppt, he said.
Originally posted: http://www.stuff.co.nz/inl/print/0,1103,778187a1885,FF.html
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