I have had a few dioxin soil projects in the last few months and each of the sites had surprising dioxin levels. The Hawaii Department of Health (HDOH) has recently revised their Environmental Action Levels for dioxins and is currently dealing with dioxin sites throughout the State. Most of the dioxin soil issues are related to past use of pentachlorophenol and other pesticides in use at sugar cane and sugar cane plantation support sites.

An international symposium on dioxins is being held in Beijing, China in August of 2009. The 29th International Symposium on Halogenated Persistent Pollutants, August 23 - 29, 2009 is sponsored by the Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Science. From their website (www.dioxin2009.org): Dioxin 2009 will offer an international interdisciplinary forum for the communication of the latest scientific advances in the study, analysis, and solution of environmental problems concerned with dioxins and other persistent organic pollutants. In addition to a comprehensive scientific program in several parallel sessions, there will also be a full social program.