The power of one does count, we ask you to show your support for a Just and Fair outcome for all who have been victims of exposure to dioxin New Zealand.
Dioxinnz
How are we exposed to dioxin?
Dioxinnz.com is campaigning for this to take place in New Zealand concerning victims of exposure to dioxin which was in 2,4,5t and 2,4D herbicides manufactured and sold in New Zealand.
The major sources of dioxin are in our diet. Since dioxin is fat-soluble, it bioaccumulates -- climbing up the food chain and it is mainly (97.5%) found in meat and dairy products (beef, dairy products, milk, chicken, pork, fish and eggs in that order... see chart-1001-001 below).
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| [Chart from May 2001 study by Arnold Schecter et. al., Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, Part A, 63:1-18] | |
In fish alone, these toxins bioaccumulate up the food chain so that dioxin levels in fish are 100,000 times that of the surrounding environment.
The best way to avoid dioxin exposure is to reduce or eliminate your consumption of meat and dairy products by adopting a vegan diet.
According to a May 2001 study of dioxin in foods, "The category with the lowest [dioxin] level was a simulated vegan diet, with 0.09 ppt.... Blood dioxin levels in pure vegans have also been found to be very low in comparison with the general population, indicating a lower contribution of these foods to human dioxin body burden."
In US EPA's dioxin report, they refer to dioxin as hydrophobic (water-fearing) and lipophilic (fat-loving). This means that dioxin, when it settles on water bodies, will rapidly accumulate in fish rather than remain in the water. The same goes for other wildlife. Dioxin works its way to the top of the food chain.
Men have no ways to get rid of dioxin other than letting it break down according to its chemical half-lives. Women, on the other hand, have two ways which it can exit their bodies:
- It crosses the placenta... into the growing infant;
- It is present in the fatty breast milk, which is also a route of exposure which doses the infant, making breast-feeding for non-vegan/vegetarian mothers quite hazardous.
If you're eating the typical North American diet, this is where you are getting your dioxin from:
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| Chart from EPA Dioxin Reassessment Summary 4/94 - Vol. 1, p. 37 (Figure II-5. Background TEQ exposures for North America by pathway) |
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