Dioxin Emissions and Human Exposure in China: A Brief History of Policy and Research

In October 2010, nine ministries and commissions of China jointly issued Guidance on the Strengthening of Dioxin Pollution Prevention [Ministry of Environmental Protection of People's Republic of China (MEP) 2010], which requires key dioxin-emitting industries to carry out comprehensive actions to reduce dioxin emissions. This is a major historical milestone in China's fight against dioxin pollution. China is one of the largest dioxin-emitting counties in the world, with total annual dioxin emissions from various sources estimated at 10 kg toxic equivalent (TEQ), about half of which is emissions to the atmosphere (Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants 2008). However, efforts to control dioxin pollution in China began later than in developed countries. In 2000, China issued the first dioxin emission standard for waste incineration, which has been the main focus of dioxin pollution control in China. However, the focus of dioxin control in China is now being widely extended to include other key dioxin-emitting industries, such as ferrous and secondary non ferrous metal production. In addition, the new guidance document aims to establish a dioxin pollution control system and a mechanism for long-term super vision. Reduction, elimination, and prevention of dioxin pollution will take time, but China has taken action to address these issues with the release of this guidance document. It is a remarkable step forward. China's economy has been developing with dramatic speed in the past several decades, but environment-related research—including research on dioxin—has lagged far behind. In the late 1980s, research focused mainly on analysis of dioxin by-product residues resulting from the production of pentachlorophenol (PCP) and its sodium salt, and it wasn't until 1996 that China established the nation's first dioxin analysis laboratory in Wuhan. However, China has increasingly recognized the importance of science and technology in solving problems of environmental pollution and has supported a number of basic research projects on dioxin and other persistent organic pollutants (Jiang 2010). Since 2002, capacity building has greatly accelerated, and China currently has nearly 30 fully equipped dioxin analysis laboratories. Utilizing these facilities and the support of national basic research grants, Chinese scien tists have conducted extensive studies on factors such as background levels, distribution, transfer, and transformation patterns of dioxin in the environment. These studies have provided an unprecedented fundamental picture of dioxin pollution across China. In addition to carrying out environmental pollution monitoring and inspection of imported and exported products, some laboratories have performed pilot studies …