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Learning About Dioxin

Dioxin emissions first discovered in wastewater from pulp and paper mills in 1982 have been virtually eliminated since 1998, when the EPA's enhanced water quality rules commonly known as the "Cluster Rules" were finalized. Ultimately, the industry spent more than $1 billion dollars to install new equipment and switch from a chlorine dioxide process to an elemental chlorine process helped eliminate 95 percent of dioxin in the wastewater of 100 pulp and paper mills nationwide by 2000.

Today, as a result of switching to an elemental chlorine process for bleaching wood pulp used to make paper, and other changes in pulp processing techniques such reducing bleach usage by improving pulp washing practices, dioxin levels are typically so low that they cannot be measured by the EPA-approved detection equipment.

How does dioxin get into the environment?

Dioxin occurs naturally in combustion, such as during forest fires, range fires and volcano eruptions, so it can never be totally eliminated. According the EPA reports, such sources of combustion account for nearly two-thirds of all dioxin released in the environment.

Since dioxin is a natural result of combustion, it is also an unintentional by-product of many manufacturing processes ranging from pulp and paper to coal-fired electricity generation, copper smelting and iron ore sintering. The good news for the environment is that according to EPA reports, dioxin emissions from those industrial sources have been reduced by 77 percent to 95 percent, depending on the industry.