10-05-00

Chemicals found in Artic linked to US and Mexico

Poisonous chemicals polluting the Arctic region of Canada have been linked for the first time to incinerators and smelting plants thousands of kilometres away.

Half of all dioxins present in Arctic fish, seals, caribou and even human breast milk, have been found to have originated in the US, while a quarter came from Mexico.

The BBC reports that dioxins are produced when chlorine-based chemicals are heated to high temperatures, such as in waste incineration and paper bleaching.

They are very stable and can travel thousands of kilometres through the air and end up being eaten by animals.

Dioxins have already been found in a variety of Arctic creatures including polar bears.

Some Arctic whales are so contaminated that their corpses have to be treated as toxic waste.

The chemicals have been said to cause everything from cancer to infertility, but scientists are still divided about their possible impact on human health.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newslink/nat/newsnat-5oct2000-50.htm

-- Carl Jenkins (Somewherepress@aol.com), October 05, 2000