1. Kodak's Deadly Dioxin

The United State Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Draft Dioxin Reassessment report, concluded for the first time that dioxin is a "human carcinogen" and that virtually every American has a body load of dioxin that is at or near levels shown to cause health effects.

According to the EPA, the risk of getting cancer from normal exposure to dioxin is at least 1 in 1,000. That's 270,000 cases of dioxin-caused cancer, or 10 new cancer cases every day. This shocking rate obliterates EPA's customary "acceptable" cancer risk of 1 in 1,000,000. Those who ingest large amounts of meat and dairy products, comparably high in dioxins, have a risk of developing cancer that could be as high as 1 in 100. This estimate places the risk of getting dioxin-caused cancer 10 times higher than EPA's previous projections.

Dioxin is a result of combustion activities such as hazardous waste incineration. It attaches to dust particles and can travel large distances from the stack. It lands on grass and animal feed, and bioaccumulates as it moves up through the food chain. When people eat or drink animal products, the dioxin stored in the animal's body is transferred to their bodies.

While the EPA reported that between 1987 and 1995, overall industrial emissions of dioxin have fallen by about 80 percent, Kodak is the exception to this rule. It's massive incinerators continue to release over 544 million adult doses of dioxin every year.

Hypothetically, if each New Yorker (over 17 million people) took an equal share of just Kodak's dioxin (7,726.17 pg/yr), each person would receive approximately 30 times the EPA's "acceptable" dose. If just the population of Western New York's Erie, Niagara and Monroe Counties are considered, each person in equal share would receive an annual dose of approximately 72,817 pg/year or 285 times the EPA's now outdated, "acceptable" dose of dioxin.

Based on the EPA's projections, we can expect to see increased cancers and other health effects among Monroe County children and adults for years to come (unless Kodak changes their operations).

This flies in the face of the Clean Air Act and the EPA's new Policy on National Air Toxics Program: The Integrated Urban Strategy. The objective of the Strategy is to move away from assessing toxic reductions in tons per year, and "towards a focus on estimating reductions in cancer and non-cancer risks associated with lower emissions." The EPA's goal is to "achieve a 75 percent reduction in cancer incidence attributable to Hazardous Air Pollutants emitted by stationary sources."

2. The Truth about Kodak's Dioxin

Kodak has continually downplayed the significance of dioxin emissions from their hazardous waste incinerator (Building 218). Here are the facts:

Based on an actual trial burn¹, (conducted in 1992) Kodak's incinerator emits a projected average of 139 milligrams² of dioxin each year.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Risk Specific Dose (lifetime dose) for dioxin is 0.01 picograms per kilogram of body weight per day. (This equates to 1 in a million cancer risk. In other words, it is estimated that at this dose, one person out of every million will get cancer.)

The following calculations show how many adult doses of dioxin Kodak's incinerator emits each year:

70 kilogram adult (154 lbs.) x 0.01 picograms = 0.7 picograms (adult dose/day)


0.7 picograms x 365 days = 255.5 picograms (adult dose/year)

139,000,000,000 picograms emitted / 255.5 picograms = 544,000,000 Adult Doses/Yr.

Assuming that EPA's 1 in a million cancer risk is acceptable, the 0.01 picogram rate can be characterized as an acceptable dose rate. Based on this risk characterization, the Building 218 incinerator is emitting enough dioxin for 544,000,000 adult doses per year!

This information should compel Kodak to phase out their dioxin spewing incinerators and replace them with alternative technologies that are protective of public health and the environment.

3. Kodak's Hazardous Waste Incinerator: Not a Pretty Picture

Problems with Kodak's hazardous waste incinerator Building 218:

• A trial burn of NY State hazardous waste incinerators showed that just one of Kodak's incinerators (Bldg. 218) spews out more dioxin and hexavalent chromium than all tested hazardous waste incinerators in New York combined.³

• Dioxin is a known human carcinogen. It is also linked to:

birth defects
immune system dysfunction
hormonal imbalances
male infertility
other health problems

Dioxin rapidly builds up in the food chain and is known to contaminate human breast milk, cow's milk/dairy products, and Great Lakes fish and is dangerous to those who consume them.

• Hexavalent Chromium is a known human carcinogen. Unlike some other forms of chromium, it rarely occurs in nature. Chromium can cause lung cancer long after the exposure has ended. It can also cause:

  non-cancer respiratory diseases
  liver and kidney damage
  skin and blood disorders

  Hexavalent Chromium is considered more toxic than other forms of chromium.

• Kodak's one incinerator is estimated to be spewing out an average of 544,000,000 adult doses of dioxin each year!!!

• The incinerator is located in an environmentally sensitive area (near Great Lakes waters and ecosystem), and is located in a very populated area of Rochester.

• Kodak is a world class company operating a second class incinerator. The United States Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) cited Activated Carbon Technology (ACI) as the maximum incinerator control technology available for dioxin. Unfortunately, EPA did not require companies to install ACI or to achieve the reduced emissions it can deliver. Citing cost restraints for smaller companies, EPA ignored how large, multinational companies like the $14 Billion Dollar Eastman Kodak could easily implement the health protecting equipment in order to protect residents and future generations. After many public meetings and hearings, Kodak is in the process of upgrading their Hazardous Waste Incinerator Building 218. Unfortunately, this upgrade does not include ACI technology. We are calling on Kodak to take steps to protect public health by phasing out their incinerators and by implementing clean production processes and source reduction goals.

4. Recent News about Kodak's Dioxin

• In the fall of 2000, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) agreed to require Kodak to monitor the dioxin levels in Kodak's wastewater from Hazardous Waste Incinerator Building 218. We believe the the loadings of dioxin going into the Genesee River and the sludge burned at Hazardous Waste Incinerator Building 95 will increase after the incinerator is upgraded. In effect Kodak is playing a toxic shell game with dioxin emissions. What isn't burned at Hazardous Waste Incinerator Building 218 may go into the Genesee River or be burned at their other Hazardous Waste Incinerator, Building 95.

• In February 2000, Kodak retained its notorious title as the number one manufacturing polluter in New York, according to Toxic Release Inventory data.

• Also in February 2000, five local families filed a $75 million lawsuit against Kodak alleging the company's pollution is responsible for their children's central nervous system cancer. Two of the children are posthumously represented.

• On December 2, 1999, Citizens' Environmental Coalition (CEC) organized a New York State Citizens' Public Hearing on Dioxin in Rochester, New York as part of the nationwide Zero Dioxin Campaign coordinated by Center for Health, Environment & Justice (CHEJ). The event brought out dozens of people who testified to experiences with deadly dioxin and criticized Kodak's cavalier attitude towards dioxin's toxicity in their community. The hearing provided a forum for public communication and an effective networking event for grassroots groups to discuss an important policy issue.

• In September 1999, the Ladies Home Journal listed Kodak as a potential cause of a suspected children's cancer cluster in Monroe County.

• In June 1999, 1,700 people contacted Kodak calling for better protection of the environment and New York citizens through a state of the art incinerator upgrade. Kodak announced an upgrade in February but rejected a request by 13 state and national groups calling for Kodak to install dioxin-reducing Activated Carbon Injection technology, considered by The United States Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) to be the most effective.

5. Links

• The Center for Health, Environment & Justice's Stop Dioxin Exposure Campaign
  CHEJ is the only national environmental organization founded and led by grassroots leaders. Their Stop Dioxin Exposure Campaign is a nationwide campaign focused on eliminating all sources of dioxin discharge.

• The Center for Health, Environment & Justice's Dioxin Reports
  CHEJ's web site provides several links to dioxin related reports.

• National Center for Environmental Assessment: Dioxin and Related Compounds
  The National Center for Environmental Assessment is preparing the dioxin reassessment for the EPA. Click above to read the Draft Dioxin Reassessment

6. Citations

¹New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Comparison of Average Emissions for New York State Waste Combustors. October 20,1995

²Equivalency:

139 milligrams = 139,000,000,000 picograms 1 picogram = 1 part per quadrillion (ppq)

139 mg/yr is the estimated average amount of dioxin emitted from building 218. Worst case scenario calculations estimated dioxin emissions at 214 mg/yr.

³Comparison of Average Emissions for New York State Waste Combustors.