SEOUL -- Residents near a waste incineration station in Pyongtaek, Gyeonggi Province have the highest content of dioxin reported so far in residential areas at home and abroad, a civilian environment research institute said Wednesday.
The Citizens' Institute for Environment Studies (CIES) said residents living near an incinerator in Pyeongtaek, some 70km from Seoul, have average contents of 53.4 ppt TEQ lipid of dioxin in blood. This was found in a sample survey of 10 people who were selected for the poll among residents, said the research institute which is attached to the Korea Federation of Environment Movement (KFEM).
The 10 surveyed consisted of five cancer patients (two for lung cancer, two for stomach cancer and one for breast cancer), three family members of the cancer patients and two general residents. The average dioxin blood contents were 52.2 ppt TEQ lipid for five cancer patients, while the levels for cancer-patient families and common residents posted at 52.6 and 57.7.
The content level found was far above the average 20-40 ppt TEQ lipid seen in dwellers in other residential areas, and also above 16.6 ppt TEQ lipid shown for those living near Shiwha Industrial Complex in Gyeonggi Province.
This indicates the wide-spread exposure of dioxin in the area neighboring the incinerating station. Toxic materials in the process of waste burning are mostly likely a major cause of the high exposure to the fatal material, the CIES asserted.
In the wake of the results, the KFEM urged the Ministry of Environment to immediately launch an extensive survey of waste incinerators across the nation, dioxin emmissions and health checks for residents in neighboring areas. Dioxin is mass generated while burning chemicals such as chlorine, and consists of 7 dioxin chemicals and 21 pseudo-dioxin materials which are extremely harmful to humans.
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