Archived press release

Dioxins may be in milk near foot and mouth pyres

25 May 2001

Farmers have been warned by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) that increased levels of dioxins may be found in milk and milk products from farms close to foot and mouth pyres.Friends of the Earth has warned of the dangers of dioxins being emitted by the railway sleepers, fuel and other materials used to burn animal carcasses. FOE has called for a public inquiry into why MAFF did not follow the Environment Agency's “hierarchy” of disposal, which gives rendering and burning in licensed incinerators as the safest methods of disposal, and burning on open pyres as one of the worst. FOE research also showed that the vast majority of landfills declared as safe for the animals by the Agency were not used.

Dioxins are a class of dangerous chemicals which accumulate in body fat. They are released during combustion processes. The World Health Organisation says that exposure could lead to cancers, learning difficulties, genital malformations and falling sperm counts. In 1998, the WHO set a safe daily level of one to four picogrammes per kilogramme of body weight per day.A picogramme is one millionth of a millionth of a gram.

The warning comes as a result of a risk assessment by the FSA which shows that dioxins from the pyres will be deposited on land within a two kilometre radius. The FSA is taking samples of milk, eggs, soil and grass from around pyres and will have results in around three weeks. It believes that there is at most a “small additional risk” to health from the pollution. Meanwhile, FOE advises parents with babies or young children to “play safe” by avoiding full fat milk from the area and thoroughly washing dirt off any vegetables.

FOE also welcomed the FSA warning as a “sensible application of the precautionary principle.”It also welcomed the FSA's refusal to bow to inevitable political pressure from MAFF over the safety warning.

Charles Secrett, Executive Director of Friends of the Earth, said:

“Congratulations to the FSA for beginning to live up to its promise to be an independent food safety body. Today's announcement is yet more worrying news for farmers and families in foot and mouth areas. The Government must give a full account of its handling of the foot and mouth crisis, to a public enquiry. We need to know why MAFF apparently did not follow the Environment Agency's recommendations on the safe disposal of animal carcasses. In the absence of a public enquiry, suspicions will grow that disposal methods may have been dictated more by the date of the Election than by concern for public health.”

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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust