Convincing politicians that controlling the risks arising from long-term exposure to pollutants is as important as tackling pollution of a more direct and immediate nature, is a challenge which the Commission has faced for many years. Tina Garrity reports on a new strategy to deal with dioxins, furans and PCBs

Many administrations have come and gone since the dreadful Seveso accident in 1976, which raised awareness of the risks of exposure to toxic chemicals. While there has been some progress on reducing emissions since then, other factors have now led the Commission to wonder whether the current approach is sufficiently robust. In an attempt to raise public and political awareness of the problem, it has put forward plans for a new strategy to deal with dioxins, furans and PCBs.

Until fairly recently, the problem of dioxins in the environment was thought to be diminishing. According to the Commission, recent exposure data shows that measures introduced to control dioxin releases have resulted in a substantial reduction in intake of these compounds - with levels in humans having decreased since the mid-1980s. However, since 1995, this tendency has levelled out and it is now being predicted that previous decreases in background levels will probably not be repeated in the coming decades.
According to the Commission, 1Mt of PCBs were produced and used in the 20th century until their ban in 1985. A large number of products containing them are now reaching the end of their life and need to be very carefully disposed of. The enlargement of the EU to include accession countries is also likely to increase the average exposure. In addition, the toxic properties of these chemicals may have been underestimated with new data emerging to suggest neurodevelopmental, reproductive and endocrine effects indicating a possible broader impact on health than previously assumed.

With regard to dioxins in foodstuffs, studies show that a considerable number of people in the EU are exceeding the tolerable weekly intake (TWI) for dioxins set down by the Scientific Committee for Food. Although this does not necessarily mean an appreciable risk to health, since the TWI includes a safety factor, it is of concern since exceeding the TWI leads to an erosion of the protection embedded in the safety factor. The strategy being proposed by the Commission is designed to assess the current state of the environment and the ecosystem, to reduce human exposure to dioxins and PCBs in the short term, to maintain human exposure at safe levels in the medium to long term, and to reduce environmental effects from dioxins and PCBs. Ultimately, the Commission would like to reduce human intake levels below 14 picograms WHO-TEQ per kg bodyweight per week. The Fifth Environmental Action Programme set a target of a 90 per cent reduction in dioxin emissions by 2005, compared with the levels in 1985. While this will be almost achieved for industrial sources, for non-industrial sources progress has been much slower. The record of some member states' governments is not that good either. The PCB directive (96/59/EC) has in some cases been inadequately implemented and several infringement procedures are under way.
An early part of the strategy will involve developing a complete inventory of sources and acquiring more knowledge on the share of the different dioxin sources. A comprehensive inventory on hospital waste incinerators will be generated and those countries still relying on the on-site incineration of hospital waste will be encouraged to change to other, less emissive waste management systems and treatment methodologies. The Commission predicts that iron ore sintering might become the most relevant industrial sector, partly due to the facilities located in accession countries. Since dioxin emissions from sintering plants may be reduced considerably by primary measures, the Commission will help to spread this knowledge to the respective contacts in the iron and steel industry. It will also further promote the use and implementation of best available technology (BAT) in this sector. Targeted for similar action are electric arc furnaces and the non-ferrous metals industry. With regard to less polluting installations, licensing authorities will be encouraged to evaluate possible dioxin emissions on a case-by-case basis, taking account of BAT information for those sectors. For the categories of installations with the highest dioxin emission potential, the IPPC Directive envisages the adoption of emission limit values for dioxins when the need for Community action has been identified.

In the non-industrial sector, the Commission intends to set up an emission inventory on domestic solid fuel combustion for all EU and accession countries. In particular, it wants to gather quantative data on domestic wood and coal combustion. Better information will be provided to the public on the environmental effects and the abuse of inappropriate materials as heating fuels and on the risks of domestic waste burning (backyard burning). More research on the natural sources of dioxins (clay, mines etc) and their share in the overall release into the environment will be promoted.

The Commission notes the recent concern in the UK over the burning of foot and mouth carcasses on pyres and promises to consider whether this choice of disease control strategy is sustainable in view of the practical difficulties presented in containing its environmental impact in a timeframe consistent with rapid and effective disease control. The aim will be to ensure that unacceptable emission of hazardous substances into the environment and consequently in feed and food chain do not occur. Further work will be done on the inventory of releases to land and water and on the establishment of the PCB inventories required under Directive 96/59/EC.

Another part of the strategy will be to develop low cost and easily applied routine tests for dioxin measurement, with further research into continuous monitoring. A set of environmental indicators for monitoring purposes will be established and key organisms and products will be selected to monitor their dioxin and PCB concentrations. The Scientific Committee on Food will be asked to evaluate non dioxin-like PCBs which, it is thought, could be several orders of magnitude more concentrated than dioxins in aquatic biota such as fish and shellfish.

The development and use of substitute or modified products and materials will be promoted, as will the exchange of information and experiences between member states concerning the current application of available, feasible and practical measures to achieve a realistic and meaningful level of release reduction or source elimination. This includes encouraging the use of BAT and technology transfer. Greater support for the development of accident prevention guides will be given and dioxins will feature as one of the key areas to be represented on the sectoral co-ordination group to be set up under the Clean Air For Europe (CAFƒ) Programme. Regarding illegal dumping, the Commission wants a debate on the suitability of subsidies for disposal granted to the holders of PCB-containing equipment. Specific actions are also forecast in the water, soil and waste sectors. Research will play a key role and the communication on the strategy lists priorities for both the Commission and the member states. In the longer term, the Commission hopes to encourage the development of a GIS system which identifies contamination hotspots. It will also support the collection of epidemiological and toxicological data so as to establish a link between environment and health. This reflects the new approach to environmental health set out in the Sixth Environmental Action programme. Continuous monitoring will be encouraged and the development of a rapid alert and reaction system for acute or emergent dioxin and PCB dangers will be investigated. Regarding food, the Commission is considering proposals to limit the presence of dioxin in food and feed. In particular, it would like to see the imposition of maximum limits for dioxin, with any food or feed exceeding these maximum limits being considered unsuitable for consumption.

In addition, it feels that the EU should set target levels for dioxin, as well as action levels which would act as a tool of "early warning" and would trigger investigations to identify and reduce/eliminate the source of contamination. These action levels would lie between the maximum limits and the target levels, the latter being determined once more scientific data becomes available. Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament and the Economic and Social Committee: Community strategy for dioxins, furans and polychlorinated biphenyls. COM(2001) 593 final. OJ C 322. 17.11.01. pp 2-18.