News
01/01/1989
Dioxin in Paper
Dioxin in Paper
P89-38 Food and Drug Administration
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Chris Lecos-Emil Corwin (202) 245-1144
Sept. 1, 1989 Lecos at home - (703) 354-4418
Corwin home # - (202) 244-6242
The Food and Drug Administration has confirmed earlier reports that
extremely low levels of dioxin migrate from bleached paper cartons into the
milk they contain, but in a letter informing Congress of its findings FDA
said today that the levels measured well below one part per trillion.
Canada had published similar findings a year ago regarding milk products
in the Halifax region of the country, and New Zealand has also found such
levels.
FDA also said paper manufacturing techniques are being changed, and that
the very low levels do not pose a threat during the time it takes to
complete the changes.
"During the short period of time it will take to complete corrective
steps, milk is safe to drink," FDA Commissioner Frank E. Young, M.D., Ph.D.,
said. "But because we have the means to virtually eliminate even this low
level of dioxin, it is prudent to do so."
"The paper industry committed itself last year to modifying the
production of bleached paper and paperboard so they contribute essentially
no dioxin to the milk and other foods they package. FDA will closely
monitor these efforts to be sure they are accomplished expeditiously."
The American Paper Institute says that the majority of paperboard for
milk cartons is already being produced under the modified production methods
promised and that the remaining paper mills will be employing the new
production methods as soon as the necessary equipment, now on order, is
operational. The necessary equipment and technological changes are also
underway for paper production for other food packaging, according to
industry officials.
Reported to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce's subcommittee on
Health and the Environment, FDA's study is an outgrowth of a national survey
of dioxin, begun by the Environmental Protection Agency in 1983. An
offshoot of that study showed dioxin downstream from some paper mills. (See
FDA Talk Paper T87-45, Oct. 5, 1987, "Dioxin in Paper Waste.")
Since molecules of contaminants in a packaging material like paper can
migrate to the food it touches, FDA began a study of how much, if any,
dioxin migrated to milk packaged in paper cartons. To get the maximum
migration, whole milk was stored refrigerated in half pints for two weeks --
the shelf life for milk -- before testing. The milk came from cartons
containing paperboard made by all five companies producing this packaging
for milk in the United States.
Most contaminant measurements are in parts per million or parts per
billion. FDA tests had to be modified to detect the dioxin in the milk,
which was found in amounts far below 1 part per trillion. A ppt is
1/1,000,000,000,000, or one part in a millionth of a million, and the dioxin
was less than a tenth of that. The results confirmed that dioxin, or TCDD,
and a related but less potent compound, called TCDF, can migrate in
extremely low amounts into milk packaged in chlorine bleached,
polyethylene-coated paper cartons.
Specifically, dioxin, or TCDD, was found in 4 of 15 half pint samples at
levels ranging from 0.02 to 0.07 parts per trillion. None was found in the
other 11 milk samples. The less potent TCDF was found at levels of 0.l4 to
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0.62 ppt in seven samples. No TCDF was found in the other 8 samples. (Three
samples contained both substances.)
If findings in test animals have a parallel in humans, FDA has
tentatively estimated that the lifetime cancer risk of consuming milk
packaged in cartons over the next three to five years would be less than one
in a million -- even if the paper industry were unable to reduce levels
during this period. (Although some samples contained no detectable levels of
TCDD and TCDF, FDA's risk assessment was based on an assumption that all the
samples contained at least 0.01 ppt TCDD and 0.05 ppt TCDF.)
Industry studies indicate that the dioxin and TCDF result from reactions
involving chlorine and lignin (a natural material that binds the cellulose in
wood) or from chlorine and impurities in defoaming agents. Chlorine not only
makes paper white, it helps separate the lignin from cellulose in the raw
wood.
FDA, the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of
Agriculture will continue to work in collaboration on dioxin contaminations.
wood.
Samples Dioxin (TCDD) TCDF
1 None found* 0.16, 0.15 parts per trillion
2 None found 0.12
3 0.07, 0.05 0.62
4 None found None found
5 None found None found
6 None found None found
7 0.03 0.18
8 0.02 None found
9 0.04 0.40
10 None found 0.33
11 None found 0.14
12 None found None found
13 None found None found
14 None found None found
15 None found None found
* None found in the tests. FDA's testing method permits reliable
measurement down to 0.02 TCDD and 0.1 TCDF.
There are 75 compounds known as polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins, but
dioxin is generally used, as here, to mean the most toxic and thoroughly
studied of this group, 2,3,7,8-tetracholorodibenzo-p-dioxin, or TCDD.
Some 135 related compounds are known as polychlorinated dibenzofurans, or
furans. TCDF is the most toxic of these, with a potency estimated at about
one-tenth that of dioxin.
Dioxin is widespread in the environment. Beginning in 1977, it was found
in the fly ash of municipal incinerators on three continents. It was shown
to be produced in the manufacture of herbicides in West Germany in 1957. The
most important source of human exposure is through the food chain.