IPEN Global Egg Sampling Project:
Toxic Contamination of Free-Range Eggs in 17 Countries
The first study looked for dioxin, furan, PCB, and HCB contamination in free-range chicken eggs in 17 countries on five continents. The chemicals included in this study are earmarked for minimization and elimination by the Stockholm Convention and are known as unintentional persistent organic pollutants (U-POPs), because they are created as unintentional byproducts of certain combustion and industrial processes. They were chosen for study to illustrate the need for international guidelines to help countries design facilities that avoid or minimize formation and environmental release of POPs; guidelines on substitute materials as a means of reducing and eliminating POPs; the importance of completely destroying POPs in waste before allowing them to be released to the environment; and the need for more publicly available information on U-POPs in our food, our bodies and the environment.
The second study looked for the presence of the pesticide hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH, lindane), and brominated flame retardants, such as polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD). These are chemicals that have the same characteristics as the 12 chemicals already slated for elimination or minimization and which IPEN believes should be added as targets for global elimination.
Both studies found dangerous levels of toxic chemicals in eggs that were collected near waste incinerators, cement kilns, the metallurgical industry, waste dumps and chemical production facilities. The lowest levels of contamination had more than two times the background level of dioxins. Seventy percent of the samples exceeded the EU limit for dioxins in eggs; sixty percent exceeded proposed EU limits for PCBs in eggs. Three egg samples reported in this study contain some of the highest dioxin levels ever measured in chicken eggs. Lindane, beta-HCH and the PBDE flame retardants were found in all samples. Another flame retardant, HBCD, appeared in 80 percent of the samples. This study represents the first data about these substances in most of the countries examined.
The Next Generation of POPs: PBDEs and Lindane