CANK Note:
League Table below shows Castle Padeswood 7th worst dioxin polluter in the UK
(Up from, 11th place in 1999)
And their Clitheroe plant also features at 20th place - this site running a similar preheater-style kiln to that proposed for Padeswood

The Government’s Committee on Toxicity has today agreed to back European Commission calls for tough new safety limits on the level of dioxins in people’s food.
The new limits will be five times lower than those currently existing in the UK. Food Standards Agency data reveals that school children and toddlers regularly
consume food above the new safety limit, as will a large proportion of adults.

Friends of the Earth today called on the Government to: produce a national strategy to reduce dioxin levels; introduce a moratorium on new sources such as
incineration; ban other chemicals which, like dioxins, build-up in people’s bodies. Dioxins have been linked to cancers, hormone disruption and skin diseases.

Dioxins are widespread in food and the environment due to releases from factories and bonfires [see league table on most polluting factories below]. People’s
bodies are also contaminated with dioxins, as well as scores of other persistent and bio-accumulative chemicals. Although dioxin intakes in the UK have fallen by 80
per cent over the last twenty years, the European Commission is warning that levels are beginning to rise again in some areas.

The Government’s Committee on Toxicity has agreed to new safety guidelines proposed by the European Commission. This states that people should not be
exposed to more than two picogrammes of dioxin per kilogramme of body weight per day (one picogramme is one thousandth of a billionth of a gramme). Babies,
however, are exposed to far higher levels of dioxins than this because breast milk
contains the dioxins which have built up in the mother during her life [note that it is widely accepted that despite this contamination, breast feeding is still the best
option for feeding a baby].

The vast bulk of exposure to dioxins comes from food contamination. Friends of the Earth supports the sound advice from the Food Standards Agency for people
to continue to eat a balanced diet, but is demanding the Government takes action to reduce dioxin contamination, namely:
  • A national strategy to reduce dioxin levels in food and the environment (including action to reduce dioxin releases from existing sources);
  • A moratorium on new sources of dioxins, such as incinerators, until levels in food are well below the level suggested by the Government experts;
  • A ban on other chemicals which build up in people’s bodies and the environment. The European Commission has proposed action against these types of
chemicals but the chemical industry is opposing controls. 167 MPs have already signed a parliamentary petition (EDM 173) supporting action on these chemicals.

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

“Margaret Beckett and others must cut the release of these dangerous substances into the environment. This means a moratorium on the building of new
incinerators and other sources of dioxins until food contamination levels fall below the new recommended level. The Government needs a dioxin
reduction strategy and needs it quickly. Meanwhile, consumers should listen to the sound advice from the Food Standards Agency and eat a balanced diet
whilst not over-consuming fatty foods and oily fish.”
 

Dioxin releases from major industrial sites for the year 2000
(Grammes)
 

1.        CORUS UK LTD, PORT TALBOT                                                                                9.818
 

2.        CORUS UK LTD, SCUNTHORPE                                                                                8.44
 

3.        CORUS UK LTD, REDCAR, CLEVELAND                                                                 7.15
 

4.        ALLIED STEEL AND WIRE LTD, CARDIFF                                                               3.78
 

5.        CORUS UK LTD, ROTHERHAM                                                                                 3.3
 

6.        BERNHARD METALS (UK) LTD, DERBY                                                                  1.7
 

7.        CASTLE CEMENT LTD, MOLD, CLWYD                                    1.6
 

8.        EDISON FIRST POWER LTD, FERRYBRIDGE 'C' POWER STATION                     1.57
 

9.        EDISON FIRST POWER LTD, FIDDLERS FERRY POWER STATION, WIDNES    1.5
 

10.      AVESTAPOLARIT LTD, SHEFFIELD                                                                          1.4
 

11.      COTTAM POWER LTD, COTTAM POWER STATION, RETFORD                         1.35
 

12.      BRITISH ENERGY PLC, EGGBOROUGH POWER STATION, GOOLE                   1.29
 

13.      INNOGY PLC, DIDCOT A POWER STATION                                                          1.250
 

14.      INNOGY PLC, ABERTHAW POWER STATION, BARRY                                        1.1
 

14.      POWERGEN UK PLC, KINGSNORTH POWER STATION, ROCHESTER             1.1
 

16.      NORTON ALUMINIUM PRODUCTS LTD, CANNOCK                                          1.07
 

17.      CHEMVIRON CARBON LTD, FELTHAM, MIDDLESEX                                          0.86
 

18.      AES DRAX POWER LTD, DRAX POWER STATION, SELBY                                  0.85
 

19.      TXU LTD, WEST BURTON POWER STATION, RETFORD                                      0.79
 

20.      CASTLE CEMENT LTD, CLITHEROE                                         0.74
 

21.      TXU LTD, HIGH MARNHAM POWER STATION, NEWARK                                  0.735
 

22.      TXU LTD, DRAKELOW B POWER STATION, BURTON-ON-TRENT                   0.695
 

23.      HYDRO ALUMINIUM DEESIDE LTD ,WREXHAM                                                  0.64
 

24.      VETSPEED LTD, CAMBRIDGE PET CREMATORIUM, THRIPLOW                      0.633
 

25.      HJ ENTHOVEN AND SONS LTD, DARLEY DALE SMELTER, MATLOCK          0.62
 

26.      ASW SHEERNESS STEEL LTD, SHEERNESS                                                          0.578
 

27.      ALCAN PLC, LYNEMOUTH SMELTER, ASHINGTON                                          0.566
 

28.      LAFARGE AGGREGATES LTD,  WHITWELL QUARRY, WORKSOP                   0.55
 

29.      INNOGY PLC, TILBURY POWER STATION, TILBURY                                        0.501
 

30.      TXU LTD, RUGELEY POWER STATIONS, RUGELEY                                           0.407
 

31.      NORTHUMBRIAN WATER LTD  BRAN SANDS, MIDDLESBROUGH                0.348
 

32.      ONYX SHEFFIELD LTD, SHEFFIELD                                                                     0.326
 

33.      BLUE CIRCLE INDUSTRIES PLC, GRAVESEND                                                   0.25
 

34.      TXU EUROPE MERCHANT GENERATION LTD, TELFORD                                0.249
 

35.      LAFARGE AGGREGATES LTD, FERRYHILL, COUNTY DURHAM                    0.2258
 

36.      MES ENVIRONMENTAL LTD, WOLVERHAMPTON WASTE TO ENERGY     0.225
 

37.      JOHNSON MATTHEY PLC, ENFIELD                                                                   0.21
 

38.      BLUE CIRCLE INDUSTRIES, STOKE-ON-TRENT                                               0.202
 

39.      JESSE BROUGH METALS GROUP, HIXON                                                          0.2
 

40.     SHEFFIELD FOREGEMASTERS ENGINEERING LTD, SHEFFIELD                    0.18
 

41.     SAFFIL LTD, WIDNES                                                                                             0.17
 

42.     CPL PRODUCTS LTD, IMMINGHAM DOCK, GRIMSBY                                    0.16
 

42.     TYSELEY WASTE DISPOSAL LTD, TYSELEY                                                     0.16
 

44.     PIRELLI CABLES LTD, PRESCOT                                                                         0.15
 

44.     CORUS UK LTD, STOCKSBRIDGE, SHEFFIELD                                                0.15
 

46.     AES FIFOOTS POINT LTD                                                                                     0.14
 

47.     ALENOY LTD, BRADFORD                                                                                   0.138
 

48.     FE MOTTRAM (NON FERROUS) LTD, CONGLETON                                       0.13
 

49.     QINETIQ LTD, SHOEBURYNESS, SOUTHEND-ON-SEA                                  0.12462
 

50.     BUXTON LIME INDUSTRIES LTD, BUXTON                                                     0.12
 

Data from the Environment Agency Pollution Inventory