Mighty sinner

 
Published: Thursday 30 November 2000

Industrial plants in the us are causing extensive dioxin pollution in Nunavut, a remote area in the Arctic. Dioxin is one of the most carcinogenic substances known to humankind. A report of the North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation, an intergovernmental organisation set up jointly by Canada, USA and Mexico, has come out with this report. Dioxin emissions from the US are responsible for 70-82 per cent of air pollution in Nunavut, the report states. Some Inuits native to the area have twice as much dioxin in their blood as people in southern Canada, despite Nunavut having virtually no sources of dioxin ( New Scientist , Vol 168, No 2259).

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