Because of concerns by residents that illnesses might be due to dioxin exposures from the former Ivon Watkins-Dow plant in New Plymouth, health authorities commissioned a serum dioxins study of selected residents who live or did live at Paritutu, the nearest suburb to the plant.

Non-occupational health effects in the New Plymouth population

The aim of the survey is to determine the level of dioxin exposure in comparison with the levels found in the Ministry for the Environment’s background population study.

The final report of a study to investigate historical exposure to dioxin among current and former residents of the New Plymouth suburb of Paritutu was released on 10 March 2005.

The study, conducted by the Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR), was to determine whether residents who lived close to the former Ivon Watkins Dow (IWD) agrichemical plant while the herbicide 2,4,5-T was being made from 1962 to 1987 had dioxin levels higher than other New Zealanders.

Appendices

Download: Final report - PDF, 1.1 MB

A Study of 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) Exposures in Paritutu, New Zealand

Important: Te Whatu Ora disclaimer

The data and analyses contained in A Study of 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) Exposures in Paritutu, New Zealand have been supplied to the Ministry of Health by the Institute of Environmental Science and Research Ltd (ESR).

Te Whatu Ora cannot confirm the accuracy of the data and the analyses, and accepts no liability or responsibility for any acts or omissions, done or omitted in reliance, in whole or in part, on the data or the analyses.

Peer reviews

A summary of the serum dioxin study in Paritutu was published in 2009 in the international Chemosphere journal. The abstract is on the ScienceDirect website.