4 Terrace Review — Wednesday, Jan. 22, 1986

TERRACE — The Fed-
eral Business Develop-
ment Bank (FBDB) is
now located in the old
ICBC building across
from the Credit Union
on Lazelle Avenue. The
phone number is the
same — 635-4951.

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WAR
HAE) ©

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4

Letters to the Editor

To the Editor,

Many Blacks in
South Africa are
against apartheid. It
seems that they do not
want to preserve their
own culture. They want
a mixed society. This
way the culture of the
Whites may be destroy-
ed as well. There is no
room in South Africa
for self-determination
if this happens. Separ-
ate development is out
of the picture. Moscow

must have a hand in it.
The Russians could
conveniently use the
Cape.

It is amazing that we
see the opposite happen
in Canada. Native In-
dians want to preserve
their culture and iden-
tity as much as possible.
Not much is left. For
this reason, they work
hard towards apar-
theid. They want their
own townships (land
and reserves), and their

Terry Fox put money on research cures

To the Editor,

In Terrace, B.C., the
public appeal of
pesticide permits on
Sept. 18, 1984, has led to
some interesting findings
pertaining to dioxins.

The Pesticide Appeal
Board of the Provincial
Government, Chaired by
Mr. Hillier, understood
that 2,4-D slated for use
by the forestry, didn’t
contain dioxins. Because
the question had been
repeatedly raised by the
public at Appeals, he
ordered that the batch be
tested for dioxins.

Many people thought
that 2,4-D didn’t contain
dioxins, that it was
primarily found in
2,4,5-T, the other consti-
tuent of Agent Orange.
The label gives no indica-
tion of dioxins. 2,4-D as
most of us are aware, is
one of the commonest
and considered safest
herbicides in the world.
Many people use it in
some form under one of
its many names.

The analysis, carried
out by Environmental
Consultants of Guelph,
Ontario, revealed the
presence of dioxins,
despite the fact that only
one sample was taken
from one batch and this
was spilled in transit into
a plastic bag.

There was DCDD
(dichlorodibenzo-p-
dioxin isomers) at 0.1
ppb (parts per billion),
T3CDD at 0.3 ppb and
1,3,6,8/1,3,7,9 T4CDD
at 5.6 ppb. The highly
studied 2,3,7,8 TCDD
wasn’t found at the
detection limit of the

Letters to tha editor will be
considered for publication
only when signed. Please
include your phone
number. The editor
reserves the right to con-
dense letters. Opinions ax-
pressed are not necesaarl-
iy those of the Terrace
Review

method being used of 0.1
ppb. However, 2,3,7,8
TCDD could still con-
tribute to the . human
load at lower levels than
those tested for because
of dioxins’ high
bioconcentration
abilities. DCDD was
reported to be a car-
cinogen from evidence
presented at the hearing.
HCDD, another
suspected carcinogen,
wasn't looked for initial-
ly at least.

Dioxins

Dioxin is presently
allowed in pesticides us-
ed in British Columbia at
10 ppb according to Dr.
Kobylnyk of the Provin-
cial Pesticide Control
Branch. The 5.6 ppb of
TCDD is pretty close and
perhaps tests of other
batches would show that
some are over limit.

The results can be
down-played or over-
rated depending on how
much faith one has in the
regulatory process at
protecting the public
from contamination.

However, Scientist J.
Raloff, reporting in
Science News, Volume
128, 1985, makes the
claim that ...All in-
dividuals in developed
countries are con-
taminated with
dioxins...! If this is true,
then perhaps our faith
would be better served if
it was in artificial selec-
tion via survival of the
most resistant.

He claims that the
most toxic dioxin is pre-
sent at from 0,005 to
0.01 ppb and other diox-
ins and toxic chemicals
are present at higher
levels than that, One of
them at least, is car-
cinogenic. Small wonder
that one in five of us dies
from cancers of mys-
terious origins while one

. taminated

in three has to fight it at
some point.

The findings of dioxin
contamination and find-
ings of it in common
animal products eaten by
most of us plus the
finding in one of our
commonest herbicides
strongly suggests that
there is a food chain
link. It also suggests that
previous studies of the
toxicity may not have
had adequate uncon-
controls to
compare to so that they
are perhaps invalid.

The two most crucial
questions raised by the
findings of Raloff are as
I see it: (1). Can the diox-
in contamination of the
populations of the
developed countries ac-
count for a large propor-
tion of the existing
cancers in a measurable
way with a properly con-
trolled experiment which
compares people who
have never been con-
taminated with those
that have? (2). Is the ma-
jority of the contamina-
tion attributable to diox-
in containing agricul-
tural chemicals where
that dioxin has
bioconcentrated up the
human food chain?

Quality of life

Animal studies have
shown that dioxin is one
of the most toxic
substances known and is
three times more car-
cinogenic than one of the
strongest carcinogens
known, aflotoxin-bl.
Based on this knowledge
alone, prudence and con-
cern for human health
and quality of life should
have prevented any from
being allowed in com-
mon agricultural chem-
icals. Despite this, it
somehow found its way
into the human environ-
ment.

In allowing a car-
cinogen to gain a
pathway into the human
body to the extent that
dioxin has, even a small
percentage increase in
carcinogenicity can
translate into a large
number of people expos-
ed to a higher risk. One
small Canadian study
predicted a 1.1 to
perhaps 1.6 fold increase
in risk of death for
trichlorophenol and her-
bicide workers. Another
study predicted a five
fold increase in soft
tissue tumors for people
who were more exposed
to contamination than
the controls.

Controversy

There is much con-
troversy as to what is a
safe level of carcinogen.
Some say that in a large
population, any increase
in carcinogenicity will
result in an increase in
cancers. Others think
that this is not so sug-
gesting that there is a

threshold below which .

dioxins will not cause
cancers,

To address the con-
cerns surrounding diox-
in, experiments are cur-
rently being conducted in
many countries around
the world on dioxins and
human disease.

We are thus unwitting-
ly taking part in a large
scale long term experi-
ment to see if dioxin con-
tamination will result in
a significant number of
cancer deaths, miscar-
riages, deformed
children and other dioxin
related malaises.

EPA and Agriculture
Canada have known
about dioxins in phenoxy
herbicides for about five
years. In 1981, an expert
Advisory Committee on
dioxins reported to the
Federal Ministers of En-
vironment and Health

and recommended that
..remedial actions are
necessary to minimize
the input of dioxins into
the Canadian environ-
ment with the goal to
reduce the amount of
dioxins and associated
toxic chemicals to the
lowest possible level,
eventually to back-
ground...

Is this goal consistent
with the lack of a dioxin
warning label on
phenoxy pesticides, with
the provincial position
that it is acceptable to
have 10 ppb dioxins in
pesticides and with the
continued licencing of
contaminated phenoxy
herbicides?

Perhaps the experi-
ment we should be doing
is to remove the dioxin
contamination source
and test the hypothesis
that this will result in less
disease and suffering
within the human
population instead of the
way we are currently do-
ing it.

If none of the dioxins
in 2,4-D are carcinogenic
or teratogenic, neurotox-
ic, or without fetal,
reproductive or
metabolic effects, or if
they were but didn’t find
their way into the human
food chain, then these
findings are probably
meaningless.

If even one of these is
such a culprit, then do
we want to find out after
the fact of more ex-
posure because of the
needless suffering that it
entails. Are we going to
continue the experiment?

Terry Fox put his
money on research cures.
I think it's time to put
some on prevention by
elimination of car-
cinogens from the pro-
duct shelves of the
world.

Jorma Jyrkkanen
Terrace, B.C.,

own local governments.
Little Cubas in the
midst of Canada? That
too will come in handy
for Moscow. Whatever
policy works best to
spread world commun-
ism is acceptable. Nev-
er mind that land claims
are contrary to socialist
creed. In socialist coun-
tries, the state must
own all the land. The
people own nothing,
although they call these
prisons ‘The Peoples’
Republic’, etc. We
have the Dene Nation
and a lot of other
nations within our bor-
ders. Sechelt for in-
stance, with a popula-
tion of 610 natives,
wants municipality sta-
tus. This reminds me of
young people who run
away from home, but
father and mother still

. have to pay their bills

and keep them alive.

If our Indians can
stand on their own feet,
and prove to us that
they can, then | am not
against their desire for
apartheid. But the mo-
tivation must be right.
We do not need Rus-
sian colonies in Can-
ada. Russia loves min-
orities to work with,
and the left wing of the
NDP may help them.
But where are the anti-
apartheid protestors
now?

Let us work for unity
in diversity.

Bill Homburg,
Terrace, B.C.

Beef Drop
Beef consumption dropped
from a peak of 127.5 pounds per
person in 1976 to 104.3 pounds
in 1983, according to the Nation-
al Livestock and Meat Board.

Terrace
Review

Established May 1, 1985
The Terrace Review is published
each Wednesday by Close-Up
Business Services Ltd.

Publisher:
Mark Twyford
Editor:
Maureen Barbour
Advertising:
635-4339 or 635-7840
Production:
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Carrle Olson
Accounting:
Mar| Twytord

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