Dioxin Debacle

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Dioxin Debacle
by Professor Allan Springer Department of Paper
Science Engineering Miami University Oxford,
Oh 45056 513-529-2208 SPRINGAM_at_MUOHIO.EDU
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International Toxicity Equivalency Factors
(I-TEFs) (1988)
NUMBER OF NUMBER OF CONGENER PCDD ISOMERS P
CDF ISOMERS 2378-Tetra 1.0 1 0.10 1 12378-Pen
ta 0.50 1 0.05 2 23478-Penta --- --- 0.50 --
- 2378-Hexa 0.10 3 0.10 4 2378-Hepta 0.01 1 0
.01 2 Octa 0.001 1 0.001 1
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TABLE 2 One Time Doses of TCDD That Kill Half the
Animals Exposed
Micrograms/kilograms body Guinea Pig 0.6 -
2.1 Rat 22 - 500 Rabbit 115 Dog 30 -
300 Hamster 3,000 Monkey lt70 The dose
shown is the amount that kills about half of the
animals exposed to is. This is called the LD 50
(lethal dose 50).
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TABLE 1 Sources Releasing Dioxins Into the
American Environment
Sources are listed in order of the total amounts
of dioxins produced by all units. Municipal
solid waste incinerators Smelters that recycle
copper Residences and public utilities burning
coal and oil Fuel wood burning Forest
fires Production of the metal magnesium Municipal
sewage Hospital waste incinerators Pulp Paper
operations Industrial hazardous waste
incinerators Petroleum industry operations Motor
vehicle driving - mostly burning unleaded
fuel Miscellaneous sources Cigarette smoke
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What Are Some Dioxin Levels Found in the
Environment?
Soil, Background Levels in American soil Up to 1
ppt Soil, Highly contaminated (Times Beach,
MO) Up to 340 ppm Wood stove (chimney
soot) 7500 ppt Fish Up to 100 ppt Whole
cow milk Up to 3 ppt Human fat tissue 1 -
20 ppt Human milk fat 1 - 10 ppt Sewage
Sludge 3 - 327 ppt Bleached paper mill
wastewater sludge 48 - 550 ppt Bleached paper
mill effluent 0 - 3000 ppq range Bleached
Kraft pulps 0 - 100 ppt
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How Do We Describe Levels of Dioxins In the
Environment?
ppm parts per million ppb parts per
billion (one thousand times smaller than ppm) ppt
parts per trillion (one million times
smaller than ppm) ppq parts per
quadrillion (one billion times smaller than
ppm) ppquintillion (one trillion times smaller
than ppm) These terms refer to parts by weight.
For example, one pound would equal 1 ppm in 500
tons. A ton contains 2,000 pounds. One pound in
500,000 tons would equal 1 ppb. One pound in
500,000,000 tons equals 1 ppt. Another way of
looking at these quantities is to compare them to
periods of time 1 ppm is equivalent to 1 sec in
11.6 days 1 ppb is equivalent to 1 sec in 32
years 1 ppt is equivalent to 1 sec in 32,000
years 1 ppq is equivalent to 1 sec in 32,000,000
years
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RISK ASSESSMENT
Paper Daily Use TCDD
Required for Product
One in a Million Risk, ppt Diapers
6 540,000 Tissues
7 230,000 Towels
10 7,900,000 Notepaper
60 4,200 Toilet Paper 60
27,000,000 Paper Dust
10mg/M3 670
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One in a Million Risk
400 miles of air travel 60 miles of travel by
car 3/4 of a cigarette 1 1/2 minutes of rock
climbing 20 minutes of being a man aged 60

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Sources of DBD DBF In Brownstock
Mill Water
Wood Chips DBF 3 to 11 ppb
Certain Oil-Based Defoamers
BROWNSTOCK
DBF 3 - 23 ppb
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DBF Concentration Determined for Various Wood
Species
Wood Species DBF, ppb Western
Hemlock 3.1 Black spruce 11.2 Balsam
Fir 6.0 Jack Pine 6.1 Beech 4.4
Maple 4.2 Poplar 7.9
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SCAN SLIDE 13 IT GOES HERE
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Options to Reduce Dioxin Levels

• Decrease the chlorine multiple
• Increase the chlorine dioxide substitution
• Decrease the precursor level Use clean Defoamer
  and good pulp washing
• Have good C-stage mixing and control

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• SCAN SLIDE 18
• IT GOES HERE

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Are We at Risk From Dioxin?

• U. S. EPA - YES
• Most other agencies and countries - NO

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Table 3 Standards Set by U.S. Agencies and Other
Countries for Virtually Safe Lifetime Daily Doses
of Dioxin
Picograms/ kilogram body
weight/ day U.S. Agencies Environmental
Protection Agency 0 . 006 State of
Connecticut 0 . 04 Food and Drug
Administration 0 . 06 Centers for Disease
Control 0.03 - 1.4 Other Countries Netherlands
4 . 0 Canada 10 . 0 West Germany 1 -
10 A picograom is one trillion times smaller than
a gram.

 
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PROBABLE LEVEL OF EXPOSURE
U.S. EPA 1900 RISK ASSESSMENT LIKELY EXPOSURE TO
0.01 PG/KG/DAY NCAI - 1992 MONTE CARLO ANALYSIS
LIKELY EXPOSURE 0/0015 TP 0.05 PG/KG/DAY

 
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EVENTS WHICH INFLUENCED PP INDUSTRY RESPONSE TO
DIOXIN

• 1970 ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCAITON PROGRAMS
  IMPLEMENTED IN U.S.SCHOOL SYSTEM
• 1973 MILL DISCHARGES CHECKED FOR DIOXIN AND NON
  DETECTED
• 1978 ROYAL SWEDISH ACADEMY OF SCIENCE CONFERENCE
  ON CHLORINATED PHENOXY ACIDS AND THEIR DOXINS
  MODE OF ACTION, HEALTH RISKS AND ENVIRONMENTAL
  EFFECTS STOCKHOLM

 
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• 1985 MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY AND CRADBOAK
  INSTITUTE OF SCIENCES CONFERENCE ON DIOXINS IN
  THE ENVIRONMENT ANARBOR, MI
• 1985 ANALYTICAL TECHNIQUE EMPROVED 3 ORDERS O9F
  MAGNITUDE AND DIOXIN DISCOVERED IN EFFLUENT AND
  SLUDGES FORM PP MILLS - 105 MILL STUDY NCASI -
  EPA STUDY
• 1987 PRESENCE OF CHLORINATED DIOXIN CONFIRMED IN
  U.S. MILLS - 5 MILL STUDY EPA- NCSI
• 1987 GREEN PEACE PUBLISHERS NO MARGIN OF SAFETY

 
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• 1987 SWEDISH GOVERNMENT MARINE ACTION PLAN
• 1987 CPPA/PPRIC NCASI STUDIES CONTINUE
• 1990 INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH EVOLVES WAYS TO
  MINIMIZE DIOXIN FORMAITON
• 1997-93 RESEARCH STRATEGIES IMPLEMENTED AND
  DIOZIN BELOW NONDETECT LEVEL AT MOST MILLS

 
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RESOURCES SPENT VRS LIVES LOST

• 3000 PAPERS IN LITERATURE
• 1.2 BILLION U.S. DOLLARS
• LIVES LOST?
• MORE LOST FORM STRESS OVER PROBLEM THAN FORM
  EXPOSURE

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LESSONS LEARNED FORM DIOXIN DEBACLE

• 1. NONPROBLEMS CAN BECOME ISSUES AS ANALYTICAL
  TECHNIQUES IMPROVE
• 2. SCIENCE ISONLY A PART OF THE DECISION MAKING
  PROCESS WHEN FEAR OF LOSS OF HUMAN LIFE IS
  INVOLVED
• 3. THREEE IS NOT A CONSENSUS IN THE REGULATORY
  COMMUNITY ON HOW TO DO RISK ASSESSMENT AND SET
  SAFE LEVELS
• 4. COMPLEX MULTI VARIABLE MODELS HAVE A HIGH
  DEGREE OF UNCERTAINTY ASOCIATED WITH THEIR
  RESULTS AND MUST BE INTERPRETED WITH CARE
• 5. ONCE AN INDUSTRY DEVELOPS AREOND A POLLUTANT
  IT IS DIFFICUST TO ACHIEVE OBJECTIVITY
• 6. ENVIRONMENTAL DESCISION MAKING MAY BE
  CHANGING FORM A SCIENCE BASED PROCESS TO A
  PRECAUTIONARY EMOTIONAL BASED PROCESS