noun

• 1A highly toxic compound produced as a byproduct in some manufacturing processes, notably herbicide production and paper bleaching. It is a serious and persistent environmental pollutant.

  A heterocyclic organochlorine compound; alternative name: 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzoparadioxin or TCDD; chemical formula: C₁₂H₄O₂Cl₄

  ‘Activists also charge that inappropriate operation of incinerators creates not only air pollution but also toxic dioxin.’

  More example sentences

  • ‘He discussed how the manufacture of PVC creates the unwanted byproduct of dioxin, a potent carcinogen.’
  • ‘That view is shared by the usually mild US Environmental Protection Agency following their extensive three-year study that proved dioxin to be more toxic than had originally been believed.’
  • ‘The pulp and paper industry has historically discharged dioxin and other environmental toxins into rivers and streams.’
  • ‘The by-product of this process, dioxin, is thought to be linked to cervical cancer and also has harmful effects on the environment.’
  • ‘Thousands of ducks and a million duck eggs have been destroyed after the toxic chemical dioxin was found in eggs at a supermarket, the government said yesterday.’
  • ‘The Stockholm Convention, to which Australia is a signatory, bans, or seeks to eliminate 12 of the worst organic pollutants including dioxin.’
  • ‘Some commentators recommend avoiding fatty fish because more PCBs, DDT, dioxin, and other chemical compounds will be found in the fat.’
  • ‘Arsenic and dioxin in the herbicides are expected to pose a health threat long into the future.’
  • ‘Some of the herbicide contained dioxin, one of the world's deadliest poisons.’
  • ‘But until two years ago, the pleasures of Zamami were spoiled by the presence of a garbage incinerator that spewed highly toxic dioxin into the atmosphere.’
  • ‘FDA has since recommended that clays used as desiccants in feed processing be tested for dioxin.’
  • ‘A 1995 study shows that the amount of dioxin produced during waste incineration depends more on the method of incineration than on the chlorine content of the waste.’
  • ‘No trees will be cut for Whole Earth and no chlorine used in paper making (thus releasing no dioxin into the environment).’
  • ‘The amounts of dioxin in the environment are very low.’
  • ‘The Jiading factory will be able to burn at 850 degrees centigrade, hot enough to destroy dioxin, a poisonous chemical compound found in some waste, said the engineer on that project.’
  • ‘But dioxin and related toxic chemicals are detectable in the body years after exposure.’
  • ‘Cigarettes contain many pesticide residues, some chlorine chemicals that when burned produce dioxin, a known human carcinogen and cause of a host of diseases.’
  • ‘In addition, the manufacture and incineration of PVC releases dioxin, a known human carcinogen, into the environment.’
  • ‘Poly-vinyl chloride, or PVC, is targeted as a primary producer of dioxin.’

  1. 1.1Any of the class of compounds to which dioxin belongs.
     ‘He said that when you burn any organic matter, which contains chlorine and organic carbon, you get dioxins.’
     More example sentences

     • ‘They have excavated more than 100,000 cubic metres of fill contaminated with heavy metals, hydrocarbons and dioxins.’
     • ‘Other residents will just burn the rubbish in their garden spreading dioxins and other noxious chemicals throughout the countryside.’
     • ‘Exposure to dangerous chemicals called dioxins can cause a rare form of acne called chloracne.’
     • ‘What if there's a level of dioxins, like TCDD in that?’