English Abstract This report presents the results of the monitoring of
dioxins in cow's milk from selected dairy farms. These dairy farms are
located near the municipal waste incinerator (MWI) of Rotterdam (the
Lickebaert area), the Netherlands. Levels are expressed in picograms
2,3,7,8-TCDD toxicity equivalents (TEQ) per gram of milk fat, calculated on
the basis of international toxicity equivalence factors (I-TEF) of
individual congeners. Now, the levels in cow's milk of the months January
to March are known. In this report the dioxin levels in the Lickebaert area
are presented for the months February 1990 to March 1993. The increase of
the dioxin levels observed in the preceding period from July on, has
apparently reached a maximum in September 1992 at a level of 8.9-13.3 pg
TEQ/g of fat. The levels of the following months show a slight decrease.
In the months October to December 1992 the dioxin levels in the milk samples
ranged between 6.7 and 10.9 pg TEQ/g of fat. In the months January to
March 1993 the levels ranged between 6.4 and 10.0 pg TEQ/g of fat and are
comparable to the levels of the months October to December 1992. These
levels still exceed the Dutch legislationlevel for dioxins in cow's
milk.
