Strongly pro-veg editorial in Sun-Sentinel (US-FL)

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Sun-Sentinel Monday, June 5, 2000, EDITORIAL, Pg. 22A

 

AVOID DIOXIN EXPOSURE WITH VEGETARIAN DIET

 

By LUCRETIA LUKNIC

 

According to a recent Washington Post story, a newly released

Environmental Protection Agency report increases tenfold its

estimate of cancer risk from exposure to dioxin.

 

More than 36,000 cancer deaths per year are attributed to such exposure.

Other hazards include developmental defects in children and altered

hormone levels. Dioxin is one of the most potent chemical toxins

known to science. In 1983, the entire town of Times Beach, Missouri,

was razed after discovery of severe dioxin contamination.

 

Dioxin is a waste product of paper pulp production and waste incineration.

It enters the human food chain through consumption of fatty tissues and

dairy products from animals who eat contaminated plants and fish who

process contaminated water. Children, who consume more dairy products

than adults, are at higher risk.

 

Clearly, the report provides one more reason for abiding by the advice of

health experts to replace animal fat and meat in our diet with vegetables,

legumes, fruits and grains.