EPA updates health risk of dioxins

WASHINGTON — A long-awaited federal study on the health effects of dioxins says the persistent contaminants at current exposures don't pose significant health risks.

The analysis released Friday by the Environmental Protection Agency was more than two decades in the making. It sets the first benchmark for how much dioxin a person can be exposed to over lifetime without potentially experiencing health effects other than cancer. Those include damage to the immune and reproductive systems, skin rashes and liver damage.

The figure could lead to more stringent cleanup standards for hazardous waste sites and tighter limits on the amount of dioxin allowed in water and air.

Dioxin is released by coal-fired plants, burning waste and other industrial processes. People are exposed by eating fish and other animal fats, where it accumulates.