Dioxin in Saginaw: 3000 ppt in household dust

The Chicago Tribune and Detroit Free Press report that high levels of dioxin have been found in the Riverside Blvd neighborhood in Saginaw, just upriver from the Wickes Park hot spot with the reported 1.6 million ppt sample. One sample of household dust had dioxin levels of 3,000 parts per trillion. One household had 23000 ppt in the yard, and the average level in yards in this neighborhood was 2000 ppt. The Feds have ordered Dow to clean up the houses.

Although this is a single neighborhood, the high levels found certainly raise questions about the accuracy of the U-M study on the prevalence of dioxin in floodplain areas. The U-M study dust results showed a mean concentration of dioxin in dust of 38 ppt in the floodplain, and a maximum of 1746 ppt (in the near flood plain.