The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "dioxin" ...
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The Last Ghost of War
"Over three decades after the Vietnam War, deadly dioxin has worked its way into the food chain and, some argue, the gene pool, with tragic results." This documentary details several plaintiffs in a class action suit, who are "seeking justice and compensation for medical care from U.S. chemical companies."
Tags: disabled children; Agent Orange; chemical weapons; dioxin; Saigon
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Getting Burned: A North St. Louis medical-waste incinerator has spewed dioxin for a decade. Nearby residents say it's time to fight the fire.
The Riverfront Times reports on medical-waste incinerator in North St. Louis that has a long history of releasing dioxins into the environment. The story reviews the facility's long list of incidents.
Tags: St. Louis; medical-waste incinerator; environment; Air Pollution
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Fateful Harvest: The True Story of a Small Town, a Global Industry, and a Toxic Secret
Wilson's book tells how "toxic heavy metals, dioxins and radioactive wastes are being recycled as fertilizer on farms, yards and gardens nationwide." The author profiles a small farming town - Quincy, Washington - and depicts the local government and community controversial reactions to the use of the unsafe fertilizer. The main finding is that "some large, polluting industries saved millions of dollars in hazardous-waste disposal costs through the fertilizer loophole, while the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) looked the other way."
Tags: BOOK; environment; pollution; agriculture; farming; Association of American Plant Food; chemical manufacturers; lead; contamination
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Health Problem at the Health Care Industry
The Amicus Journal write about the poor medical waste disposal system in California. The magazine reveals that the plastic content of hospital waste is between 15 and 30 percent, twice the level found in household waste. The waste also is the largest source of dioxin - the most carcinogenic chemical compound known to science.
Tags: dioxin; medical waste; incinerators; pollution; hospital waste
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The Sturgeon Disaster: Twenty Years Later
This narrative retells the story of a chemical spill in Sturgeon, Missouri, twenty years later: the cleanup and the aftermath, and takes a look at how the lives of the townspeople were affected. "Cancer rates and other health problems in the town are abnormally high, according to many residents and one local doctor... Others are not convinced the chemicals had any lasting effect. The state Department of Health has never investigated concerns about the number of cancer cases in the area."
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Apocalypse Still
Mother Jones investigates the continued effects of Agent Orange on the Vietnamese 25 years after the war ended. "In the years since the war's end... the reality of America's chemical warfare in Vietnam's forest and rice paddies has slowly begun to unfold. Though thousands of American veterans of the war now receive government compensation for illnesses linked to Agent Orange, the United States has yet to accept responsibility for the devastating effects of its campaign on Vietnam... Washington seems coldly indifferent to the havoc it unleashed on Vietnam, intent on ignoring it or making it go away." Mother Jones uncovers some evidence that Agent Orange has led to birth defects in Vietnamese children.
Tags: Vietnam; Agent Orange; dioxin; birth defects; United States
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Fear in the fields -- How hazardous wastes become fertilizer (Hazardous Waste)
Toxic heavy metals, dioxins and radioactive wastes are being recycled as fertilizer and spread over fields nationwide, and there is no law requiring that they be listed as ingredients. Some large industries were saving millions in hazardous-waste disposal costs through the fertilizer loophole. In most cases, there was no science to say this practice is safe. The small number of scientists who knew about the practice said it was marked by uncertainty, unpredictability and unknowns. The EPA and state regulators, lobbied by industry, encouraged the practice in the name of recycling. But the regulators only test fertilizers for guaranteed nutrients. The toxic metals and dioxins were not listed on labels.
Tags: fertilizer; hazardous waste; Moxee City; Bay Zinc
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No title (id: 13557)
The Riverfront Times investigates the coordinated attempt by the EPA, Missouri Department of Natural Resources and Agribusiness Technologies Inc. to clean up dioxin contamination in Times Beach, Mo. and other sites in Southwest Missouri. In order to implement the cleanup effort, the federal government has imposed an unsafe incinerator on the St. Louis community which may lead to more contamination in surrounding areas. (May 18, 1994 - Nov. 20, 1996)
Tags: Stelzer Contest entry Chemicals Hazardous wastes Pollution Environment 31 pgs.
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No title (id: 13240)
The Texas Observer looks at the chemical industry and its attempts to keep parents and teachers in Texas from adopting resolutions in favor of developing alternatives to chlorine-based products and resolutions in opposition to the burning of hazerdous wastes in cement kilns--acknowledged to produce dioxins, among other toxins. (Jan. 26, 1996)
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Havoc in the Hormones
Audubon Magazine reports that "Pollutants like dioxin and pesticides have upset the reproductive systems of alligators and gulls. Now, researchers theorize, the contaminants may be threatening humans."
Tags: pesticides polychlorinated biphenyls PCBs dioxins pollution toxic chemicals DDT endocrine systems