Expert Panel Warns Females of Dioxins in Food

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http://ens-news.com/ens/jul2003/2003-07-01-11.asp

 

Expert Panel Warns Females of Dioxins in Food

 

 

By J.R. Pegg

 

WASHINGTON, DC, July 1, 2003 (ENS) - The health risks from dioxins in foods are

too unknown for regulatory limits, an independent panel of experts said today,

but a federal interagency group should spearhead efforts to reduce human

exposure to dioxins in foods.

These efforts should focus specifically on reducing exposure to girls and women,

encouraging stricter compliance with dietary recommendations to consume less

animal fat, and improving data collection of levels of dioxins in human food and

animal feed, according to the report released by the Institute of Medicine of

the National Academies.

Dioxins - and dioxin-like compounds - are persistent organic pollutants produced

by waste incineration and other industrial processes. They accumulate in the

body fat of animals and people, and the fats in animal meat, whole mild and

full-fat dairy products are the principal sources of most people's exposure.

The European Union has set limits for dioxins in food, as high levels of dioxins

have been linked to endocrine-related conditions, developmental problems, and

susceptibility to cancer, among other health hazards.

But the Institute of Medicine panel determined that the data gaps are too great

to determine whether small amounts of dioxins are toxic and at what levels they

begin to pose risks.

" It is not a question of there being no data, there is good data and the report

quantifies and presents it, " said committee member Julie Caswell, a resource

economics professor at the University of Massachusetts. Dioxins accumulate in

the body over time, so reducing exposure at an early age is critical. (Photo by

Ken Hammond courtesy USDA) " But if you want to reduce dioxin exposure the data to

choose strategies to do that is inadequate, " she explained.

As a result, the panel is " recommending simple, prudent steps to further reduce

dioxin exposure while data are gathered that will clarify the risks, " said

Robert Lawrence, associate dean at Johns Hopkins University's Bloomberg School

of Public Health and chair of the committee that wrote the report.

The report, " Dioxins and Dioxin-like Compounds in the Food Supply: Strategies to

Decrease Exposure, " was requested by the U.S. Department of Health and Human

Services, the Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Department of

Agriculture (USDA).

The most direct way for humans to reduce dietary exposure to dioxins, the report

finds, is to reduce consumption of animal fat. As dioxins are persistent and

long lived compounds that accumulate in human tissues over a lifetime, the panel

recommends that aggressive action be taken to reduce exposure in girls and

women.

This is the only practical way to reduce dioxin exposure in fetuses and breast

feeding infants, which are more susceptible to the harmful effects of dioxins,

the report finds.

Given the health and social benefits of breast-feeding, the committee

recommended strategies to reduce accumulated body levels of dioxins, rather than

to discourage breast-feeding. The panel recommends the government examine the

levels of saturated fats in school lunch and breakfast programs, which

collectively provide mealst to more than 30 million children. (Photo by Ken

Hammond courtesy USDA)The panel says the government-sponsored food programs,

such as the National School Lunch Program, should increase the availability of

foods low in animal fat. In particular, low-fat milk should be made more widely

available in the school lunch program and the USDA should analyze the impact of

setting limits on the amount of saturated fat that can be present in meals

served in the school breakfast and lunch programs.

The committee calls for the promotion of compliance with the Dietary Guidelines

for American on the consumption of saturated fats as a way to minimize dioxin

exposure without compromising nutrition.

" We are recommending that the current USDA guidelines that call for 10 percent

saturated fat and 30 percent total fat be followed, " Lawrence said.

The panel found that dietary changes to reduce dioxin exposure may have

additional benefit of reducing the risks of cardiovascular disease and other

health risks associated with excessive consumption of saturated fat.

Because of the health benefits associated with omega-3 fatty acids in fish and

the difficulty of trimming fat from fish, the committee did not recommend that

people reduce their consumption of fatty fish below the currently recommended

two servings per week.

Lawrence told reporters that " some of the same guidelines that have been

released to reduce our exposure to mercury would apply " to setting limits on the

intake of fish at the top of the food chain.

The report recommends that an interagency group make serious efforts to collect

data on the actual levels and distribution of dioxins in the food supply and

calls for the establishment of a nationwide data collection effort and a single

repository for data on dioxin levels in animal forage and feed.

Getting a handle on how, where and to what extent dioxins get into animal feed

" presents the greatest opportunity to reduce dioxin levels in food, " said

committee member Michael Taylor, senior fellow and director of the Risk Resource

and Environmental Management Division at Resources for the Future, a nonprofit

environmental think tank..

" A high priority should be placed on reducing contamination of animal forage and

feed, " Taylor said, " and in interrupting the recycling of dioxins that results

from the use of animal fat in animal feeds. "

Until there is enough data to shed light on whether there should be regulatory

limits, the committee recommends the interagency coordinating group engage the

private and public sectors on programs to reduce exposure in human foods and

animal feed. The committee says better data is needed of dioxin levels in

animal feed and human food. (Photo by Bill Tarpenning courtesy USDA)For example,

federal agencies should work with food producers to develop voluntary guidelines

for animal feeding and food-production practices that would minimize animals'

exposure to dioxins.

The panel says further improvements in analytical tools and methods will enable

researchers to better characterize any possible risks associated with low-level

exposure. The report concludes that the " most pressing need is for the

development of low cost analytical methods to detect dioxins, " Taylor said.

The current expense of $1,000 per sample is an obstacle to collection of data

need for comprehensive risk management strategy, Taylor told reporters.

A positive sign, Lawrence says, is that dioxin levels in the environment have

declined dramatically in recent decades - by as much as 76 percent since the

1970s, according to some measurements.

The panelists available at today's press briefing were unable to comment on

Monday's release of toxics data by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that

indicated a 50 percent increase in the total releases of dioxin and dioxin-like

compounds in 2001 compared to 2000.

In Monday's prepared statement, the EPA wrote that the overall long term trend

is that levels of dioxin are decreasing and suggests that the increase in 2001

was in part due to one time maintenance at several facilities.

The full Institute of Medicine report on dioxins in foods can be found here.

 

 

 

 

Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2003

 

 

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