Cancer and Industrial Pollution
An ongoing investigation by the Socialist Equality Party

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Steelworks: the biggest source of deadly dioxin

Recent publicity has highlighted the discovery of 69 drums of dangerous dioxin at the Sydney Olympics site at Homebush. The leaking stockpile of the most toxic human-made substance was left behind when Union Carbide shut down its chemical plant. Greenpeace, the environmental group, labelled Homebush Bay "the new dioxin capital of the world".

But the largest source of dioxin by far in NSW -- making up 90 percent of all atmospheric emissions -- are the BHP steelworks at Port Kembla and Newcastle. Flue gases from the sinter plants at the two steelworks emit a combined total of about 13 times the World Health Organisation's "allowable daily dose" of dioxins for the entire Australian population.

Dioxin emissions recorded for the Newcastle sinter plant were 35 times over the widely accepted German standards for incinerators, and Port Kembla's was 28 times over the limit.

Dioxin compounds can cause birth defects, abnormalities in childhood brain function and immune systems, cancers and heart disease. Studies have also linked it to leukaemias and lymphomas. A full report is being prepared for the Workers Inquiry.

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