Coal-fired electricity stations send dioxins into the air as the smoke is dispersed. Also, dioxins come from all types of factory wastes, commercial incineration, traffic pollution, industrial emissions, fires, and many other chemical and industrial processes. Tests show dioxins to be the most potent carcinogen known to man.
Research clearly shows that dioxins cause many serious diseases such as a kidney disease, birth defects, premature death, and a whole range of cancers.
Dioxins are present everywhere because they get carried by wind, rain, weather patterns, rivers and ocean currents to all parts of the globe. When dioxins settle on pastures and plants, they form part of the food chain for animals and humans.
Although there is little we can do to escape dioxins altogether, we can minimize the amount that goes into our body by avoiding certain foods. Dioxins are found in equal measure in both organic and non-organic food. Dioxins do not come from pesticides or fertilizers - they come from the environment at large and even from the water supply.
On the whole, our bodies can deal with a low level of dioxins. Some will get excreted instead of being absorbed into the body to cause illness. To some extent we can reduce the level of dioxins we absorb by avoiding foods high in dioxins.
Which food is highest in dioxins? Dairy milk has a higher amount of dioxins than any other food or drink, weight for weight. All mammals produce milk for breastfeeding to their young (including humans). Dioxins consumed by the mother get concentrated in her breast milk. This occurs, because all nutrients (including dioxins) get concentrated in breast milk as a way of providing rich nourishment to the new born.
Consequently, just about all human breast milk has an undesirable concentration of dioxins. But a baby stops breastfeeding after a few months so the level of dioxins received by the baby drops off. Another factor is that human milk has a much lower concentration of dioxins compared to dairy milk.
But for a milk consumer it’s a different story. Over time, the daily consumption of dairy milk results in a dangerous build up of dioxins in the body, causing below-par health, serious disease, and premature death.
There are plenty of studies showing that dairy milk has the highest concentration of dioxins compared to any other food product:
‘Dioxins penetrate the environment via air, water and soil and are then incorporated in food chains. The major source of human exposure to dioxins (90%) is consumption of .dairy products.’ (Professor Rocz Panstw, Zakl Hig, 1999, 50:3).
‘The primary source of dioxins is food, especially .dairy products.’ (Chemosphere, 1998 Oct, 37:9).
‘The lipophilic nature of dioxins.may result in relatively high concentrations of dioxin contamination in dairy products.’ (Journal of Animal Science, 1998 Jan, 76:1).
‘Cows’ milk is ideal for assessing levels because these compounds adhere to fat and are transferred to and eliminated in the milk of the lactating animal.’ (Linda Fitzpatrick, Cork Harbour Alliance for a Safe Environment, 2005).
All kinds of dairy milk contain dioxins in varying degrees, including organic milk. Unfortunately over eighty percent of organic milk sold in the world is UHT milk (also known as Long Life milk). In the Americas and most of Europe virtually all organic milk is UHT milk.
You get far more dioxins with UHT milk than you do with regular pasteurized milk because more dioxins gets digested instead of being flushed out of the body. This occurs because the micronized fat globules in UHT milk are much smaller. As a result, significantly more dioxins from organic UHT milk get into the bloodstream. See below to find out more.
