Dioxins in food.

Abstract

The aim of this dissertation is to provide some information regarding dioxins and the ways and means to reduce dioxin contamination in our islands. Another aim is to create awareness on the subject among the Maltese population. This dissertation includes a description of: • What are dioxins? And their structure, health effects, • Sources, • Analysis, • Control measures. Unfortunately, very little is known about the extent of dioxin contamination, human exposure to dioxins and the long-term health effects these may cause to the Maltese population. This is mainly due to the fact that there is no monitoring for dioxins going on. The local population is only just becoming aware of this type of pollution. The incident that occurred in Belgium in June 1999 seems to have contributed to this 'increase' in local awareness. Dioxins require three main factors in order to be formed: a source of chlorine, a source of organic matter and a reactive environment for these to combine. In other words, it is relatively easy to have dioxin formation. In Malta, our main source of dioxins is probably our landfill at Maghtab where various materials including PVC (a main contributor to dioxin formation) are burnt. Also, another problem with the dump is incomplete combustion that also contributes to dioxin formation. Other sources include the power station, especially the one at Marsa and car emissions, due to the fact that the quality of fuel that Malta imports is of rather poor quality. The greatest source of human exposure to dioxins is through the diet. About 90% of our exposure comes from the food we eat. Dioxins tend to accumulate in fatty foods, for example, meat, fish, and milk products. Therefore, the higher the amount of fat m ones diet, the greater the exposure! Dioxins have a large amount of serious health effects, both short term and long term. Short-term effects include chloracne, altered liver function and long-term effects include impairment of the immune, endocrine, nervous and reproductive systems. Also, chronic exposure to dioxins increases the risk of cancer. I believe that there is much research to be done on this subject. Also, in order to find out to what extent our island is polluted with dioxins, how high is the exposure of the Maltese population and most of all to reduce this pollution; a continuous monitoring system must in some way or other, definitely be put in place.