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Dioxin
The term "dioxin" refers to a family of chemical compounds that are unintentional by-products of certain industrial, non-industrial, and natural processes, often involving combustion. The concern about dioxin is that it persists in the environment and can accumulate in the body through the consumption of some foods containing fat.
It is well documented that dioxin levels in the environment have been steadily declining for the past 30 years. People today are exposed to less dioxin than at any time in the last several decades. In particular, industrial emissions have been reduced dramatically through regulation and voluntary actions. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Inventory of Sources of Dioxin in the U.S., the chlorine industry’s total releases to the environment represented only three percent of total projected dioxin emissions from quantified sources for 2002 through 2004.
Today, the U.S. EPA believes uncontrolled burning of residential waste (backyard barrel burning), agricultural burning, and landfill fires are the largest sources of new dioxin, accounting for more than 50 percent of all current releases to the environment.
Dow plays an active role in the global reduction of dioxin emissions. In 1994, we set a 2005 Environment, Health, and Safety goal to reduce global air and water emissions of dioxin by 90 percent. This goal is being achieved through a comprehensive strategy of process improvement and technological innovation. Our reduction efforts are focused on lowering emissions at the sources where they are generated. We are optimizing our incinerators, using improved technology and operational excellence.
By year-end 2003, our emissions had been reduced by more than 80 percent, which means that we have made significant progress toward meeting our voluntary dioxin air and water emission reduction goal for the year 2005.
| Dioxin Emissions to Air and Water – Goal: 90% Reduction |
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Note: In 1996 and 1997, no data are shown in the above chart. This is due to the fact that Dow used monitoring data generated from 1995 through 1997 to document and establish its 1995 air and water emissions baseline.
In 2003, Dow made significant progress on our dioxin reduction goal with total dioxin air and water emissions at less than eight grams globally. We are well on our way to achieving our objective with over 80 percent of our targeted goal accomplished. Learn more about our global and regional efforts reduce dioxin emissions. |
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