Dioxins Fact Sheet

Key facts

• Dioxins are a group of chemically related compounds that are persistent environmental pollutants (POPs).
• Dioxins are found throughout the world in the environment and they accumulate in the food chain, mainly in the fatty tissue of animals.
• More than 90% of human exposure is through food, mainly meat and dairy products, fish and shellfish. Many national authorities have programmes in place to monitor the food supply.
• Dioxins are highly toxic and can cause reproductive and developmental problems, damage the immune system, interfere with hormones and cause cancer.
• All people have background exposure to dioxins, which is not expected to affect human health. However, due to the highly toxic potential, efforts are needed to reduce current background exposure.
• Prevention or reduction of human exposure is best done via source-directed measures, i.e. strict control of industrial processes to reduce formation of dioxins.