Fear over lack of lab to test food for dioxins
A dioxin lab was to be built here in 1999, but was never established.
Research from the European Scientific Committee On Food found that 80% of exposure to dioxins was from foods like fish, meat and dairy products. This has prompted fears among environmental groups that food produced close to incinerators would be contaminated.
Dioxins samples are sent to Britain at 800 to 1,400 a sample.
The lack of a lab was limiting severely the monitoring of foods produced here, Earthwatch said.
“This situation is very serious because the government is talking about building incinerators, but there is no effort being made to get this lab built,” Earthwatch spokesperson Tom Prendeville said.
The Food Safety Authority believed a dioxin-testing facility would be built within two years, but had received no guarantee.
Environmental groups are particularly worried about parts of south Tipperary, where much of the country’s dairy food is produced.
There are plans to build an incinerator that will burn meat and bone meal close to the village of Rosegreen, in the heart of the Golden Vale, near Clonmel.
The National Laboratory is being moved from Abbotstown to Backweston in Celbridge, Co Kildare. The Backweston facility will not be built for at least another 18 months. It is unclear whether this new facility will conduct dioxin testing.
The Department of Agriculture and Food said a dioxin-testing lab would need to be overseen by the Department of Health.
In 1999, a dioxin scare led to the downfall of the Belgian Government. Milk, eggs, dairy products, pork and beef products exported by Belgium were contaminated with dioxin found in animal feed.
The European Commission initiated proceedings against Belgium for violating EU consumer rules.
And in Britain, the Food Standards Agency revealed that dioxins from foot-and-mouth funeral pyres contaminated milk in farms.
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