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Dose—Response Effects of Dioxins

Species Comparison and Implication for Risk Assessment

  • Chapter
Dioxins and Health

Abstract

2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) and its structural analogues, polychlorinated aromatics, e. g., chlorinated dibenzodioxins, dibenzofurans, and polychlorinated biphenyls (Fig. 1), are ubiquitous environmental pollutants and produce a broad spectrum of biochemical and toxic effects in animals and humans.1 Dioxins are produced inadvertently during manufacture of chlorinated phenols and phenoxyherbicides, chlorine bleaching of paper pulp, and combustion of chlorine-containing waste.2 TCDD, the “prototype” compound of these polychlorinated hydrocarbons, is the most potent and widely studied substance of this class. It is one of the most toxic chemicals tested in laboratory animals and is a potent multisite carcinogen.3–5 Because of the high acute toxicity, the high carcinogenic potential, and the ubiquitous presence as a trace contaminant in food, water, and soil and therefore continuous human exposure,6 TCDD and related compounds are of great public health concern. However, there is considerable controversy on how to regulate TCDD and its congeners.7–8 One of the central issues in the controversy about risk assessment is whether humans are a resistant or a sensitive species to the effects of dioxins.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Laboratory of Biochemical Risk Analysis, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, 27709, USA

    Angelika M. Tritscher, George C. Clark & George W. Lucier

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  1. Angelika M. Tritscher
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  2. George C. Clark
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  1. Department of Preventive Medicine, University of New York Health Science Center-Syracuse, Binghamton, New York, 13903, USA

    Arnold Schecter

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Tritscher, A.M., Clark, G.C., Lucier, G.W. (1994). Dose—Response Effects of Dioxins. In: Schecter, A. (eds) Dioxins and Health. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-1462-0_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-1462-0_8

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