Technical Bulletin No. 0545: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency / Paper Industry Cooperative Dioxin Screening Study

It is a matter of well-known history that part of EPA's Tier 7 National Dioxin Study resulted in the discovery of trace levels of chlorinated dioxins and furans in the effluents and sludges of several bleached kraft pulp mills. The agency's desire to know more about the extent and amount of dioxin/furan occurrence in industry materials, along with the industry's own desire to know more about the situation led to the concept of a "cooperative screening study" conducted under an agreement reached jointly by EPA, NCASI and API. The results of this study, which became widely known as the "Five Mill Study," are reported in the attached technical bulletin, which represents the EPA/NCASI jointly authored report.