In 1998 the World Health Organisation declared the tolerable daily intake of dioxins to be 1 – 4 pg/ kg (picogrammes per kilogramme bodyweight), though nobody knows actually how much dioxin can be tolerated before health problems occur. Dioxin intake of children is probably more than adults due to greater consumption of milk and dairy products while adults who partake of a diet predominant in animal meats are also at risk.

Where do they come from?

Every time any form of chlorinated waste is burned, dioxins are released. It is not hard to pinpoint a number of processes which involve the use and disposal of chlorinated substances. In fact, all or nearly all the major chemical industries involve chlorinated substances as reactants, products or by products. During all these processes dioxins will undoubtedly be released. To name a few, incineration, burning waste, bleaching of paper, production of PVC (polyvinyl chloride) plastics and chlorinated pesticides, automobile exhaust and even smelting of copper. Whether in the home, office, factory, hospital or even the farm we have welcomed products made of PVC in all their multihued splendour attribute to chlorinated dyes with open arms. So we can safely conclude that there is not a single sphere / activity of   life which does not use / dispose PVCs and their manufacture and subsequent recycling or disposal by incineration are all processes which belch out clouds of toxic dioxins into the air.

How can we contain/combat dioxins?

What steps has the Government taken in India to contain the emission of dioxins? So far nothing. Not even the banning of all the 12 POPs (persistent organic pollutants) of which dioxins, furans, DDT and PCBs still proliferate in India. No study has been conducted to assess the level of dioxin to which the people are being exposed. Though India follows the EPA guidelines for dioxin emissions, there are no monitoring exercises to check for the adherence to the same. The per capita use and disposal of PVC has increased from 1.7 kg in 1997 to 4 kg in 2000. Though incineration of PVC has been banned, hospital and municipal waste containing PVC continues to be incinerated. Possible reasons are inability to differentiation between PVC and non-PVC items and the lack of a suitable mechanism to segregate PVC from waste is also lacking. While India stalls to take action, the consumption of PVC is growing in leaps and bounds and may even require import of PVC to makeup for the shortfall in domestic output.

There is only one way to deal with dioxin emissions and that is to prevent it. PVC products can be kept out of solid waste if they are labelled and disposed of suitably by burning in technically compliant incinerators or by shredding and disposing in landfill sites without fear of contaminating water or soil. Of the many culprits in the garbage, the plastic carry bag is the guiltiest. It has little reuse or recycle value and ends up in the garbage, drain, landfill, incinerator or the unsuspecting bovine’s intestines. With respect to biomedical or hospital waste, which proliferate in tubes, syringes and vials made of PVC, alternate ways of disposal like autoclaving or microwaving can also be resorted to.