NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand

Ministry of Health checks for residents near New Plymouth chemical plant labelled a 'sham'

RNZ
1 Aug, 2020 11:20 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

The Paritutu agrochemical plant in 1968. Photo / CC, Phillip Capper

The Paritutu agrochemical plant in 1968. Photo / CC, Phillip Capper

By RNZ

The Ministry of Health has provided 4062 health checks to people who lived or went to school within 1200 metres of a controversial chemical plant in New Plymouth.

However, the ministry has not collected data from the medical checks, because that might "raise people's anxiety that we 'are looking for something", a spokesperson said.

Residents' advocates said that was not good enough and the medical checks were next to worthless.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

From the mid 1960s to 1987, Ivon Watkins (later Ivon Watkins Dow) made the controversial herbicide 2,4,5T at Paritutu, which contained the toxic dioxin TCDD.

A key component of the US military defoliant Agent Orange used in the Vietnam War, 2,4,5T has been linked to cancers and birth defects.

In 2008, the ministry started an early intervention health programme, which included a free annual medical check, for nearby residents of the Paritutu plant. It said 798 people were still registered with the service, 82 per cent of whom live in the Taranaki region.

A ministry spokesperson said the medical checks had not been used as part of any ongoing investigation into the potential long-term effects of living close to the factory.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"To use the service to analyse whether there are any health outcomes associated with dioxin would require a much larger population to achieve sufficient statistical results.

"And as eligible people self-select into the service, there are also concerns that any sample may not be fully representative of people who were exposed to dioxin from the former Ivon Watkins Dow factory in Paritutu."

The spokesperson said while there had been exposure to dioxin, science around the dose-response relationship remained uncertain.

"What we do know is not precise enough to determine the relationship of dioxin exposure to health outcomes. It would therefore be inappropriate to identify, with any specificity, the type and scale of the change in health status that the service is trying to effect."

Discover more

New Zealand|politics

Unicorns, flying pigs, $100 bills: NZ First's wacky anti-Greens ad

01 Aug 08:28 AM
New Zealand

NZ pressuring South Korea to co-operate in diplomat sex assault case

01 Aug 07:16 PM
New Zealand

All the lonely people: Covid's impact on NZ youth

01 Aug 08:44 PM
World

Melbourne headed for NZ-style lockdown

01 Aug 10:22 PM

The spokesperson said the service did not focus on one disease or condition and the eligible population included healthy people, so any health status measure would need to be generalised.

"The health outcomes that might be expected will manifest over the long-term. This is compounded by the small probability of increased incidence of relatively rare health conditions associated with dioxin exposure.

"Finally, collecting outcome data may raise people's anxiety that we are looking for something, when there is no evidence of impact."

This is despite a 2005 Ministry of Health study finding that mean TCDD levels in the blood of local residents were 3.8 times higher than in a control group. In age and sex sub-groups, levels were up to seven times higher.

The report, which also found soils in the area were contaminated, concluded "the predominant exposure was probably from inhalation of dioxin on particles and in vapour form with an additional small contribution from ingestion of home-grown 'exposed' fruit and vegetables".

Long-term residents had a 10 per cent higher chance of dying of cancer than the national average, the report estimated.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Andrew Gibbs, a researcher for residents' group Dioxin Investigation Action, said the early intervention programme was "a sham".

"It was 40 years after the highest exposures and its main purpose was to avoid doing the study that ESR [Institute of Environmental Science and Research] recommended of the exposed families. That's why they don't keep data," Gibbs said.

"It's some value to more recent residents, but for the highly exposed residents who were exposed 40 years ago, it's pretty well worthless because it excludes their children and grandchildren."

Lance Snowden, who has lived in the Paritutu neighbourhood since 1978, recently received his ministry letter reminding him of his medical check, but did not put much stead in them either.

"I go and see the doctor, but hey, the doctor doesn't even know what he's doing. And that's the shame of it. We don't get tested [for dioxins]. There's nothing happening, so if you've got any other health issues how do you relate that to dioxin?" Snowden said.

Corteva Agrisciences, which took over Dow AgroSciences last year, has announced it is considering closing the Paritutu plant.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from New Zealand

New Zealand

Car submerged in Christchurch’s Avon River

ChristchurchUpdated

Car submerged in Christchurch river, fears people could be inside

07 Jul 08:19 AM
New Zealand

Health NZ board re-established by Government

07 Jul 08:03 AM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from New Zealand

Car submerged in Christchurch river, fears people could be inside

Car submerged in Christchurch river, fears people could be inside

07 Jul 08:19 AM

A member of the public phoned in about the car at 7.10pm.

Health NZ board re-established by Government

Health NZ board re-established by Government

07 Jul 08:03 AM
'The man I once trusted violently raped me': Man jailed for attacking ex-wife next to sleeping child

'The man I once trusted violently raped me': Man jailed for attacking ex-wife next to sleeping child

07 Jul 08:00 AM
Premium
Tech Insider: UK tells retailers to use NZ’s Auror crime-fighting software

Tech Insider: UK tells retailers to use NZ’s Auror crime-fighting software

07 Jul 07:00 AM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP