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A Government report says New Zealanders have been exposed to unacceptably high levels of the cancer-causing chemical dioxin.
News of the report comes as the Ministry of Health prepares to measure dioxin levels of some people living near the former Ivon Watkins Dow chemical plant in New Plymouth.
The Government report, which has not been officially released yet, says the cancer risk to New Zealanders from dioxin could be as high as one in 1,000, instead of the usual risk of one in 100,000.
The Environment Minister Marian Hobbs says the report will be released next month.
She says the Government will act on it, with industry set to face further limits on the amount of dioxin that can be discharged.
Dioxin is a highly toxic chemical. It is produced through a range of domestic and industrial processes, such as burning waste material.
It is also a by-product of the manufacturing of the chemical 245-T which was produced at the New Plymouth chemical plant between the early 1960s and the 1980s.
The report says New Zealanders' exposure to dioxin could lead to birth defects, reproductive and developmental problems and cancer.
In fact, the cancer risk could be as high as seven extra cancers per 1,000 New Zealanders.
The study measured dioxin levels in people and found that the average dioxin intake was at, or exceeded the World Health Organisation level.
But New Zealanders do fare better than people in other countries. The dioxin levels in this country are half that of people in Europe and North America.
The report is uncertain of long-term risks to people from a lifetime exposure to dioxin but it says that those risks are not negligible.
