Are fishmeal and fish oil associated with dioxins?
The terms “dioxins” or “dioxins and furans” are used to refer to a group of substances (polychlorinated planar aromatic structures) which have similar physical and chemical properties and are highly persistent in the environment. This group consists of 75 polychlorinated dibenzo-para-dioxins (PCDDs) and 135 polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) that are commonly referred to as dioxins and furans. Seventeen members of this group have been studied extensively and are considered “toxic”. According to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), PCBs are also persistent pollutants, some of which resemble the chemical structure of “dioxin-like” compounds. PCBs differ from dioxins and furans in that they are manufactured for transformers, insulators, capacitors etc., while dioxins and furans are produced unintentionally, as unwanted by-products from various combustion and industrial processes and from natural events like forest fires and volcanic eruptions. Health Canada and CFIA recently com
