The source of dioxins found in milk from a Cork dairy farm has been identified as coming from old matting material that was used as cow bedding.
An investigation was launched into the source of dioxin contamination in 2011, after the Food Safety Authority of Ireland found in 2011 that above background levels of flame retardant were found in a bulk milk sample taken by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as part of their routine environmental monitoring programme.
It has now transpired that the source was identified as coming from a particular old matting material used as bedding in the cow cubicles in the animal housing on the farm.
The levels found in this case were low by European standards and posed no risk to the food chain. Nonetheless, an expert group from the Food Safety Authority, the EPA and the Department of Agriculture was established to identify the source which was not evident from the initial results.
The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Michael Creed told Eamon Ryan of the Green Party that the investigation had led to the identification from the cow mats, and that it was no environmental matters which caused it.
According to the Minister, the Environmental Protection Agency carries out additional testing in areas that might be viewed as areas of potentially higher risk of containing these substances.
One of these monitoring samples in a raw milk sample from a farm in Co. Cork showed somewhat elevated levels of Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), though the level was not high by European comparison. The levels found do not constitute a risk for public health, he said.
“Following considerable investigation, including a comprehensive testing regime of a number of matrices, including milk, various feed materials, water and other substances in the animal housing, the source of the problem was established.
“The source was identified as coming from a particular old matting material used as bedding in the cow cubicles in the animal housing on the farm. Accordingly the source of the problem did not have its origins in the surrounding environment.”
Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are flame-retardant chemicals that are added to plastics and foam products to make them difficult to burn.