Historic Aspects of Organochlorines in Relation to the Pulp Industry, 1996 Environmental Conference Proceedings

Organochlorines have been a matter for concern in the pulp and paper industry for the last two decades. This paper reviews the history of organochlorines in the pulp and paper industry up to about 1980. The question we want to answer is: If organochlorines are such a major hazard, why was it not emphasized earlier. Was the chemistry unknown? Was the toxicology unknown? Was the industry ignorant of public health in these earlier days? Or were organochlorines simply not that toxic then? Particular emphasis is placed on TCDD/TCDFs. Could it have been foreseen already in the 1970ies that the chlorine based bleaching processes were producing polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs). When was TCDD announced to be the “most toxic chemical in the world” and on what ground? Dioxin (2,3,7,8-TCDD) was first detected in 1957, although ‘chloracne” was reported as early as in 1897 and later associated with TCCD; it was immediately found to be toxic. Dioxin has later been referred to as “the most toxic substance”, so when it was found in pulp and paper mill effluents in 1985 the public was alarmed.