Posted on behalf of Brendan Borrell.

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released its long-delayed assessment of the potential of dioxins to cause non-cancer related health problems, such as damage to the immune and reproductive systems.

As anticipated, the recommendations suggest that people should consume less than 0.7 picograms of dioxin per kilogram of body weight per day. Above that threshold, studies have shown that dioxin exposure causes declines in sperm counts and elevated levels of thyroid-stimulating hormones. An accompanying fact sheet tells consumers that “current exposure to dioxins does not pose a significant health risk”.

Last week, Nature explained how the assessment, two decades in the making, had been heavily criticized by both scientists and industry for failing to quantify scientific uncertainties. In fact, the new document does improve the risk analysis based on a review from the US National Academies of Science, and it notes that the cancer portion of the reassessment, which will be released at a later date, will consider both linear and non-linear exposure models, which had been another scientific sticking point.

Environmental groups are already cheering the new report. In a statement, Olga Naidenko, a senior scientist with the Environmental Working Group based in Washington DC, said that “today’s decision will serve as the cornerstone of the agency’s initiatives to protect public health from chemical contaminants and provide the necessary guidance to states and public health agencies to minimize dioxin exposure”.

That opinion was not shared by the American Chemistry Council, an industry trade group, which had previously warned that the assessment could “mislead and frighten consumers about the safety of their diets”. In a statement to the Wall Street Journal, the group maintained that the assessment was flawed and the recommended intake levels are too low.