Lately, Greenpeace gained some important internal documents from Spolana. They prove an urgent risk endangering the surrounding environment with dioxins. This risk grows in time. Corrosion made part of the roof steel construction in one building collapse. The reinforced concrete construction of the contaminated buildings is so damaged by corrosion that cracks already appeared in one wall of one building. Extremely high dioxin concentrations were indicated in the surroundings of the contaminated buildings.

One of the buildings was put into a concrete sarcophagus halfway in 1998. The two other contaminated buildings are situated in an area near the Elbe that floods in average once every 50 years. If this happens, dioxins will be washed into the environment. The ground water under Spolana is contaminated not only with dioxins but with many other toxic chemical substances like: DDT, DDE, endrin, diendrin, lindane, benzene, 2,4,5-T, heptachlor, chloroform, HCB, HCH etc.

Dioxins and their characteristics
Dioxins are the most toxic substances ever produced. These solid substances are hard to dissolve in water, better in fat or organic solvents; it is acid and alkali resistant and also high temperature resistant.
Dioxins are extremely toxic at any kind of exposure, are virtually not biodegradable and bio-accumulate in the environment, which means that they concentrate in the bodies of living organisms, especially in their adipose (fatty) tissue.

Dioxins are carcinogenic and cause harm to the immune system. In children they can cause congenital developmental defects, harm neural system development (including reduction of cognitive capabilities) and sexual development. In women they can reduce fertility, cause harm to ovary function and a serious womb disease called endometriosis. In men they can cause decrease of sperm number, damage to structure or even atrophy of testicles, diminishing of genitals. Dioxins affect the function of the hormonal system of the adrenal glands and thyroids, as well as the functioning of insulin, vitamin A and melatonin. Dioxins are toxic for the liver, the spleen, thymus and skin, and they cause diabetes (damage the metabolism of fat and glucose).

Degree of building contamination
Chemical analysis proved an extremely high degree of contamination of building, air, soil and ground water. The highest concentration of dioxins (over 24 000 ng TEQ of dioxins/g (!)) was measured in the rests of chemical substances. We assume that there are tons of these rests stored in the buildings.

The immediate toxic impact of dioxins in the air of the contaminated buildings was proven by a rabbit experiment conducted by the Toxicology Department of the Military Medical Academy of J. E. Purkyne in Hradec Kralove. Rabbits in cages were located in the buildings in a way that they were exposed only to breathing the dioxin-contaminated air. The first rabbits already died on the 7th day of the experiment. Autopsy showed a significant damage of livers, lungs and kidneys.

In January 2001 the company Aquatest finished a risk analysis on the dioxin-contaminated buildings A 1420 and A 1030. Both, Spolana management and relevant public authorities, refuse to disclose the report. The report suggests 12 methods of handling the dioxin contamination using a projected investment of 300 to 400 million Czech crowns. According to Greenpeace, however, some of the suggested methods may post a huge danger for human health and the environment. Amongst these are methods as demolition by using explosives, followed by incineration (burning).

Catastrophe and its victims
In the years 1964 to 1968 about 80 people from Spolana suffered from dioxin contamination. 55 of them were hospitalised at the average age of 36,3 years when first admitted. Intoxication manifested itself mostly by skin changes (chloracne). Often suppurating cysts were forming on the skin; many of the symptoms were so severe and widespread that they changed the patient's appearance completely.

Dioxins lead also to disorders of the porphyry metabolism, manifesting itself in dark skin colour and other symptoms linked with liver porphyria. A frequent finding was also diabetes (disorder of sugar and fat metabolism), tiredness and weakness of lower limbs - also proven by electromyographic examination.

According to a statement of one of the involved physicians, dioxins are highly probably responsible for brain function disorders found during psychiatric examination of the affected workers. However, the psychological changes were also caused by the desperate situation of the patients: indeterminate future, disfigurement and death fear.

In 1981 Dr. Vejlupkova published an essay on the progress of dioxin intoxication of the Spolana workers in an American professional magazine, Archives of Environmental Health. This was met with a large response. Although Dr. Vejlupkova had fully respected the communist regime's general information ban and had not mentioned the location of the dioxin disaster, she was scapegoated by the political power and said to cause harm to the good name of socialist Czechoslovakia.

Besides the victims amongst Spolana workers, also thousands of American soldiers (nowadays veterans) and hundreds of thousands Vietnamese were contaminated with dioxins in herbicides used for the Agent Orange production. Up till now there are still vast areas of Vietnam contaminated with dioxins.

Dr. Miroslav Suta, physician, Greenpeace Czech Republic

Greenpeace Czech Republic
Českomalínská 27, 160 00 Praha 6
tel: 02-24 31 96 67, fax: 02-311 22 89, mobil: 0603-443 140
e-mail: miroslav.suta@cz.greenpeace.org
Interenet: http://www.greenpeace.cz