10-Year Study of Dioxins in Meat

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Environmental Protection Agency will review on Monday a decade-long study evaluating the potential health risks of eating animal fat and dairy products containing traces of dioxins.

Dioxins are airborne byproducts from burning fuels and forest fires that settle into the ground and are ingested by livestock. Over 95% of human exposure to dioxins is through eating animal fats, according to the EPA.

In April 1991, the EPA launched a scientific study on whether or not dioxins in meat products place humans at greater risk of developing cancer. More than a decade later, the EPA was still working on the study.

This week the agency released a draft report, which is subject to revision over the next few weeks. The draft report was prepared by a 21-member advisory panel of university scientists, state health department officials, consultants and federal government scientists.

The draft report said panel members disagreed on whether dioxin could be considered a carcinogen based on studies of laboratory animals in which dioxin acted to promote cancer growth rather than causing the development of cancer in the first place.

A majority of scientists did not believe it was appropriate for the EPA to characterize the cancer risk as about 1 in 1,000 for the average American eating a diet high in animal fats, according to the draft.

US livestock and feed groups criticized the draft report, saying its conclusions were not based on ``sound science.''

``These deficiencies could, if not addressed correctly, cause unnecessary loss of consumer confidence in foods of animal origin, affecting both domestic markets and international trade,'' 11 US farm groups said in a joint letter sent to EPA administrator Christine Todd Whitman last month.

The letter urged the EPA to require further review of the draft report by an interagency committee, which could delay its release for several years.

``Since this could have a real potential impact on the food industry, this has to be done correctly,'' said Steve Kopperud, lobbyist for the American Feed Association.

Alisa Harrison, spokeswoman for the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, said since cattle do not produce dioxins, they should not be regulated.

``Regulations need to focus on industries that can reduce the presence of dioxins,'' Harrison said. ``We just want to make sure EPA's decision are based on sound science.''

Panel scientists will discuss the draft report Monday in a teleconference open to the public. The draft report was published on the EPA's Internet site, at http://www.epa.gov/sab/dioxinpage.htm.

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