Trends

Total environmental releases of dioxins from all quantifiable sources decreased by 90% between 1987 and 2000

*OTHER category includes: diesel heavy-duty trucks, industrial wood combustion, diesel off-road equipment, EDC/VCM production, sintering plants, automobiles using leaded gasoline, land applied 2,4-D, iron ore sintering, oli-fired utilities, lightweight aggregate kilns that combust hazardous waste, petroleum refining, catalyst regeneration, cigarette smoke, boilers/industrial furnaces, crematoria, and drum reclamation.

Note: "Dioxin" here is defined as the totality of 7 dioxins and 10 furans. "TEQ" denotes "toxic equivalent," a quantitative measure of the combined toxicity of a mixture of dioxin-like chemicals.

Source: U.S. EPA (Environmental Protection Agency). 2006. An inventory of sources and environmental releases of dioxin-like compounds in the United States for the years 1987, 1995, and 2000. National Center for Environmental Assessment, Washington, DC; EPA/600/P-03/002F. (http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncea/cfm/recordisplay.cfm?deid=159286)