Dioxins Pcb Furans

This essay addresses a more global history of dioxin's drift via the herbicide 2,4,5-T, better known in Vietnam as the dioxin-tainted herbicide in Agent Orange, but also widely available as a commercial herbicide. Drawing on theories of metabolic flow that challenge Marxist and other notions of a social–nature divide, the essay uses 2,4,5-T and dioxin as a focus for writing a metabolic history to examine how the origins, delivery and fate of a herbicide can pass far beyond expected boundaries. It uses the concept of drift with respect to the herbicide and its contaminant to get at a core challenge facing writers in environmental history and the environmental humanities: how to describe environmental phenomena with multiple and often divergent cascades of causal effects in different social, economic and ecological settings. A focus on a toxic molecule's drift through multiple metabolic webs challenges readers to think beyond dominant moral frameworks and reorient themselves to a more dynamic, multi-threaded approach.

Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are toxic and persistent organic pollutants that are able to enter the food chain, accumulate in the fat tissues of animals and, consequently, pose a serious risk for human health. Consolidated tools for exposure assessment have been implemented during the last decades and widely used, both in the environmental monitoring and in modelling activities. Although the emissive trend and the concentrations in the environment have gradually decreased during the last twenty years, some situations are still underrated and not adequately controlled by the environmental legislation. On the other hand, a complete monitoring of all the pathways of exposure to PCDD/Fs and PCBs is technically and economically unfeasible. Therefore, this paper aims at providing an overview of the traditional approaches used to assess the impacts of PCDD/Fs and PCBs and presenting the novelties introduced during the last years. After an initial characterization of their toxicity and their effects on health, this paper focuses on activities and situations that can result in critical releases of PCDD/Fs ad PCBs into the atmosphere and that can represent a hidden threat for the population. In the final part, this study presents the current methodologies for exposure assessment, summarises the food-chain models in a unified way and puts the light on new methods that can help environmental scientists, risk assessors and decision makers to estimate the risk related to exposure to PCDD/Fs in different contexts.

Coastal wetlands, such as mangroves, seagrass beds, and salt marshes, are highly threatened by increasing anthropic pressures, including chemical pollution. Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) have attracted attention in these particularly vulnerable ecosystems, due to their bioaccumulative, pervasive, and ecotoxic behavior. This article reviews and summarizes available information regarding current levels, biogeochemical cycling, and effects of POPs on coastal wetlands. Sediment POP levels were compared with international quality guidelines, revealing many areas where compounds could cause damage to biota. Despite this, toxicological studies on some coastal wetland plants and microorganisms showed a high tolerance to those levels. These taxonomic groups are likely to play a key role in the cycling of the POPs, with an active role in their accumulation, immobilization, and degradation. Toxicity and biogeochemical processes varied markedly along three main axes; namely species, environmental conditions, and type of pollutant. While more focused research on newly and unintentionally produced POPs is needed, mainly in salt marshes and seagrass beds, with the information available so far, the environmental behavior, spatial distribution, and toxicity level of the studied POPs showed similar patterns across the three studied ecosystems.

Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and polychlorinated dibenzofurans are generally considered the most dangerous chemical substances known to man. Although they have never been the product of purposeful human activity, yet they are formed in many chemical and virtually all thermal processes. Research on the occurrence of dioxins in the environment, their release into the environment, ways of formation and methods of reducing their emissions lasts since the late seventies of the last century. Currently, we know three basic pathways of dioxins formation in thermal processes, the most important of them being the so called de novo synthesis which occurs outside the combustion zone at 200-400°C in the presence of catalysts (eg copper) and oxygen from the products of incomplete combustion including carbon black and chlorine or chlorinated compounds. It is well known that some metals like copper catalyze the de novo synthesis, while others decompose dioxins and furans formed previously. The formation of dioxins resulting from the de novo synthesis was studied through analysis of the effect of the type of metal on the course of the de novo synthesis. The influence of the addition of sulfur, nitrogen and alkali metals on this synthesis was also examined because some reports in the literature refer to inhibitory effect of these elements.

The paper presents the problem of uncontrolled waste combustion in a rural community (Municipality Krościenko Wyżne, South-East Poland) and social awareness concerning the formation of dioxins using the results of the survey. In the questionnaire studies both combustion of wastes in household stoves was included as well as on the open space. The results of the survey showed a large scale of waste burning and low public awareness of inhabitants of the Polish village.
English title: Public awareness in the field of uncontrolled waste combustion and the problem of dioxins.

Dioxins have been an inconvenience to the Baltic Sea ecosystem for decades. Although the concentrations in the environment and biota have continuously decreased, dioxins still pose a risk to human health. The risk and its formation vary in different parts of the Baltic Sea, due to variability in the environmental and societal factors affecting it. This paper presents a systematic literature review and knowledge synthesis about the regional dioxin risk formation in four sub-areas of the Baltic Sea and evaluates, whether systemic approach changes our thinking about the risk and its effective management. We studied the dioxin flux from atmospheric deposition to the Baltic Sea food webs, accumulation to two commercially and culturally important fish species, Baltic herring (Clupea harengus membras) and Baltic salmon (Salmo salar), and further to risk group members of four Baltic countries. Based on 46 studies, we identified 20 quantifiable variables and indexed them for commensurable regional comparison. Spatial differences in dioxin pollution, environmental conditions, food web dynamics, and the following dioxin concentrations in herring and salmon, together with fishing and fish consumption, affect how the final health risk builds up. In the southern Baltic Sea, atmospheric pollution levels are relatively high and environmental processes to decrease bioavailability of dioxins unfavorable, but the growth is fast, which curb the bioaccumu-lation of dioxins in the biota. In the North, long-range atmospheric pollution is minor compared to South, but the local pollution and slower growth leads to higher bioaccumulation rates. However, based on our results, the most remarkable differences in the dioxin risk formation between the areas arise from the social sphere: the emissions, origin of national catches, and cultural differences in fish consumption. The article suggests that acknowledging spatial characteristics of socio-ecological systems that generate environmental risks may aid to direct local focus in risk management.

Dioxins are a class of extremely hazardous molecules that might pose a threat to the environment. This work evaluated the microbial degradation of 1,2,3,4-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (1,2,3,4-TCDD), in liquid broth using three brown-rot fungi and one white-rot fungi as control. A fast and reliable extraction method with recoveries of over 98% together with a validated GC–MS method was developed, and
applied to quantify 1,2,3,4-TCDD in liquid broth, mycelia and reaction flask, with detection limits of
10 ppb. Among the four strains tested, brown-rot fungus Aspergillus aculeatus showed best results, removing up to 21% of dioxin after 30-day incubation. The results open both a path for biotechnological interest in bioremediation purposes and environmental behavior studies by using brown-rot fungus.

This essay addresses a more global history of dioxin's drift via the herbicide 2,4,5-T, better known in Vietnam as the dioxin-tainted herbicide in Agent Orange, but also widely available as a commercial herbicide. Drawing on theories of metabolic flow that challenge Marxist and other notions of a social–nature divide, the essay uses 2,4,5-T and dioxin as a focus for writing a metabolic history to examine how the origins, delivery and fate of a herbicide can pass far beyond expected boundaries. It uses the concept of drift with respect to the herbicide and its contaminant to get at a core challenge facing writers in environmental history and the environmental humanities: how to describe environmental phenomena with multiple and often divergent cascades of causal effects in different social, economic and ecological settings. A focus on a toxic molecule's drift through multiple metabolic webs challenges readers to think beyond dominant moral frameworks and reorient themselves t...

Secondary copper recovery is attracting increasing interest because of the growth of copper containing waste including e-waste. The pyrometallurgical treatment in smelters is widely utilized, but it is known to produce waste fluxes containing a number of toxic pollutants due to the large amount of copper involved, which catalyses the formation of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (" dioxins "). Dioxins are generated in secondary copper smelters on fly ash as their major source, resulting in highly contaminated residues. In order to assess the toxicity of this waste, an analysis of dioxin-like compounds was carried out. High levels were detected (79,090 ng TEQ kg −1) in the ash, above the Basel Convention low POPs content (15,000 ng TEQ kg −1) highlighting the hazardousness of this waste. Experimental tests of high energy ball milling with calcium oxide and silica were executed to assess its effectiveness to detoxify such fly ash. Mechanochemical treatment obtained 76% dioxins reduction in 4 h, but longer milling time induced a partial de novo formation of dioxins catalysed by copper. Nevertheless, after 12 h treatment the dioxin content was substantially decreased (85% reduction) and the copper, thanks to the phenomena of incorporation and amorphization that occur during milling, was almost inactivated.

It is essential to develop proper emission inventories for the PCDD/PCDFs pollutants in Jordan in order to assess
the possible effects of these pollutants on the environment. This study presents PCDD/PCDF emission inventory in Aqaba
using a standardized toolkit developed by UNEP Chemicals. The total emission rate in Aqaba was estimated as 0.875 g
TEQ yr–1. The year 2012 is the reference date for this inventory. The category with the highest estimated emission is the
transport sector (i.e. diesel engines). The latter was ranked the first in contributing to nearly 64.3 % of total emissions to
air. Heat and power generation are responsible for nearly 5.6 % of the total emission to air. Disposal and land filling is
estimated to be the only source of dioxin emissions to water and the highest estimated source of emission to residues with
annual release of 0.007 g TEQ yr–1 for water and 0.112 g TEQ yr–1 for residues. Sewage/sewage treatment contributes to
nearly 43 % of the total emission to water and 98 % to residue. Open water dumping contributes to nearly 57 % of the total
emission to water. Open burning processes is estimated to be the only significant source of dioxin emission to land through
the 77 accidental fires in houses and factories, and 50 accidental fires in vehicles which annual release of 0.003 g TEQ yr–1.

Secondary copper recovery is attracting increasing interest because of the growth of copper containing waste including e-waste. The pyrometallurgical treatment in smelters is widely utilized, but it is known to produce waste fluxes containing a number of toxic pollutants due to the large amount of copper involved, which catalyses the formation of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (" dioxins "). Dioxins are generated in secondary copper smelters on fly ash as their major source, resulting in highly contaminated residues. In order to assess the toxicity of this waste, an analysis of dioxin-like compounds was carried out. High levels were detected (79,090 ng TEQ kg −1) in the ash, above the Basel Convention low POPs content (15,000 ng TEQ kg −1) highlighting the hazardousness of this waste. Experimental tests of high energy ball milling with calcium oxide and silica were executed to assess its effectiveness to detoxify such fly ash. Mechanochemical treatment...

Emissions of dioxins are mainly from incinerators, domestic and industrial coal combustion, and traffic. However, the major public concern and research effort are associated with the emissions of organic micropollutants from waste incinerators. This paper gives a brief overview of the more recent research and development for the removal of dioxins and heavy metals from flue-gas streams. Special attention is devoted to the origin and control of emissions from incinerators. It appears that flue-gas cleaning systems in modem incinerators are very reliable in removing almost all polluting emissions from flue-gas streams. However, the fly ash residues generated pose a significant disposal problem, as they are enriched with heavy metals and organic micropollutants. Incineration 1 The incineration process consists of a number of stages: drying (mainly at 50-200 °C), degasification (mainly at 250-400 °C), gasification (mainly at 400-600 °C) and combustion (mainly at > 600 °C) [I]. In the past, about 30 municipal solid waste incinerators were operated in the UK, some of which had no flue-gas cleaning system. However, over the last 15 years, advances in incinerator research and development as well as more stringent emission limits have resulted in equipping the majority of municipal waste incinerators with flue-gas cleaning systems and energy recovery boilers. Energy recovery, via district heating and electricity generation as illustrated in ~Figure I, is an exemplary way of ensuring economic as well as ecological viability of the incineration process.

After the II Word War, the chemical based industrial revolution generated a wide and global contamination due to the release in the environment of thousand of compounds without an adequate knowledge of their environmental biotransformation and their toxic effect on the living matter. Recently, it has been found that a lot of these compounds and/or their relative by-products are persistent environmental contaminants associated with undesirable long-term effects. At present many questions have to be clarified with particular reference to lipophilic polialogenated compounds, such as polichloro-dibenzo-dioxins (PCDD), polichloro-dibenzo-furans (PCDF) and polichloro-biphenyls (PCB). These compounds accumulate up the food chain and humans can reach relative high concentration in their body with a consequent risk for health. In this paper we discuss the recent features of both biological and toxicological aspects related to the dioxins exposure.

Salmon and herring from the Baltic Sea are prohibited for sale for human consumption in the European
Union or only allowed to be marketed under certain conditions. Fish from certain specific geographical
origins also command higher prices in the market than fish from elsewhere. It is, therefore, important to
be able to enforce correct labeling of geographical origin through authentication. One authentication
strategy is to examine trace markers specific for a geographical origin. The chemical contaminants
polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs)
were released inhomogeneously into the environment for many years and may therefore be suitable as
markers. This study comprises PCBs and PCDD/Fs analyses of 79 samples of salmon originating from
Canada, Chile, China, Norway, USA, Vietnam, and the Baltic Sea near Denmark, all sampled from 2002
through 2015. Principal component analyses (PCA) were built from the combined PCB and PCDD/F profile
as well as separately from the individual PCB and PCDD/F profiles. Use of the PCB profile for the PCA
provided stronger power to distinguish between salmon of different geographical origin than using the
PCDD/F profile or the combined profiles.

Background: The University of Michigan Dioxin Exposure Study (UMDES) was undertaken in response to concerns that the discharge of dioxin-like compounds from the Dow Chemical Company facilities in Midland, Michigan, resulted in contamination of soils in the Tittabawassee River floodplain and areas of the city of Midland, leading to an increase in residents' body burdens of polychlorinated dibenzodioxins and polychlorinated dibenzofurans. oBjectives: The UMDES is a hypothesis-driven study designed to answer important questions about human exposure to dioxins in the environment of Midland, where the Dow Chemical Company has operated for > 100 years, and in neighboring Saginaw, Michigan. In addition, the UMDES includes a referent population from an area of Michigan in which there are no unusual sources of dioxin exposure and from which inferences regarding the general Michigan population can be derived. A central goal of the study is to determine which factors explain variation in serum dioxin levels and to quantify how much variation each factor explains. conclusions: In this article we describe the study design and methods for a large populationbased study of dioxin contamination and its relationship to blood dioxin levels. The study collected questionnaire, blood, dust, and soil samples on 731 people. This study provides a foundation for understanding the exposure pathways by which dioxins in soils, sediments, fish and game, and homegrown produce lead to increased body burdens of these compounds.

Aim: The elucidation of temporal trends in human exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and 17 polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and furans (PCDD/Fs) since the previous Irish human milk surveys and to evaluate the impacts of legislative bans and restrictions on human exposure to these compounds.

Methods: Concentrations of PCBs and 17 PCDD/Fs were measured in 16 pools of human milk collected from 92 Irish primiparas participating in the Irish EPA-funded ELEVATE project between October 2016 and April 2018, using Gas-Chromatography coupled with Mass spectrometry.

Results: The geometric mean upper bound concentration of 16 pooled human milk samples [PCDD/Fs + dioxin-like (dl)-PCB TEQ; 4.5 ng kg-1 lipid weight] are on the lower end of those reported internationally. WHO-TEQ PCDD/Fs + dl-PCB are significantly lower (P < 0.005) compared to those reported in the previous Irish human milk studies in 2010 and 2002.

Conclusion: Detected concentrations in this study are comparable to those reported for less industrialised countries in the last WHO/UNEP global surveys for PCDD/Fs. This downward temporal trend likely reflects the impact of regulatory bans and restrictions on the emissions of dioxins and PCBs. While mean upper bound WHO PCDD/F PCB TEQ concentrations are lower than those estimated by EFSA to be associated with adverse health effects in children age 9, maximum upper bound concentrations do exceed EFSA reference concentrations. While the positive health benefits of breastfeeding to both mother and child significantly outweigh potential adverse health effects at reported concentrations, continued action to reduce human body burdens of dioxins and PCBs is required.

Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and polychlorinated dibenzofurans are generally considered the most dangerous chemical substances known to man. Although they have never been the product of purposeful human activity, yet they are formed in many chemical and virtually all thermal processes. Research on the occurrence of dioxins in the environment, their release into the environment, ways of formation and methods of reducing their emissions lasts since the late seventies of the last century. Currently, we know three basic pathways of dioxins formation in thermal processes, the most important of them being the so called de novo synthesis which occurs outside the combustion zone at 200-400°C in the presence of catalysts (eg copper) and oxygen from the products of incomplete combustion including carbon black and chlorine or chlorinated compounds. It is well known that some metals like copper catalyze the de novo synthesis, while others decompose dioxins and furans formed previously. The...

This essay addresses a more global history of dioxin&#39;s drift via the herbicide 2,4,5-T, better known in Vietnam as the dioxin-tainted herbicide in Agent Orange, but also widely available as a commercial herbicide. Drawing on theories of metabolic flow that challenge Marxist and other notions of a social–nature divide, the essay uses 2,4,5-T and dioxin as a focus for writing a metabolic history to examine how the origins, delivery and fate of a herbicide can pass far beyond expected boundaries. It uses the concept of drift with respect to the herbicide and its contaminant to get at a core challenge facing writers in environmental history and the environmental humanities: how to describe environmental phenomena with multiple and often divergent cascades of causal effects in different social, economic and ecological settings. A focus on a toxic molecule&#39;s drift through multiple metabolic webs challenges readers to think beyond dominant moral frameworks and reorient themselves t...

This study assessed the contribution of various feed ingredients used in swine feeding as a source of dioxins, furans and dioxin like polychlorinated biphenyls (DL-PCBs) contamination in pork, considering the dietary changes during breeding, raising and fattening. Raw materials or feed ingredients were separated into different categories, developing a dataset with EROD/H4IIE bioassay results (determination of 7-Ethoxyresorufin O-Deethylase activity in H4IIE hepatoma cell line). Two types of diets were established that considered the varying percentages of ingredients necessary during the productive cycle of these animals. These two diets were based on those of common use in Chile. A descriptive analysis of the information contained in the dataset was performed, characterising the observations behaviour. A transfer model in which the body burden of dioxin increases proportionally to the consumption of contaminated food was proposed. The highest average contaminant concentration, expr...

Please cite this article as: S. Pongpiachan, et al., Data relating to emissions of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) from industrial boilers, Data in Brief (2018), http://dx.Data in Brief ∎ (∎∎∎∎) ∎∎∎-∎∎∎ S. Pongpiachan et al. / Data in Brief ∎ (∎∎∎∎) ∎∎∎-∎∎∎ 2 Remarks:Sm 3 ¼Dry standard cubic meter for gas condition means at temperature of 20°C, pressure of 1 atm and dry basis. (United States Region) I-TEQ (International Toxicity Equivalence) ¼ the value is calculated by using the toxicity equivalence factors (TEF). Please cite this article as: S. Pongpiachan, et al., Data relating to emissions of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) from industrial boilers, Data in Brief (2018), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.dib.2018.12.021i S. Pongpiachan et al. / Data in Brief ∎ (∎∎∎∎) ∎∎∎-∎∎∎

The association between exposure to chlorophenoxy herbicides contaminated with dioxins and occurrence of cancer has been studied mainly in male populations. In animal experiments, gender differences have been recorded in the cancer response to administered 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD). Mortality and cancer incidence in an international cohort of 701 women from an International Register of Workers occupationally exposed to chlorophenoxy herbicides, chlorophenols, and dioxins is examined. Cause-specific, national death rates and cancer incidence rates were used as referents. Cancer risk was not increased overall, with a standardized incidence ratio (SIR) of 96 and 95 percent confidence interval (CI) of 64-137, based on 29 cases. Among workers exposed to those chlorophenoxy herbicides contaminated with TCDD, excess cancer incidence (for all sites) was observed (SIR = 222, CI = 102-422, 9 cases); this was highest in the first 10 years after exposure. No excess was observed for breast cancer, the most common cancer in this cohort. Results on cancer mortality were consistent with those on incidence.

Exposure patterns are reported for manufacturing and sprayer cohorts incorporated in the "IARC International Register of Workers exposed to Phenoxy Herbicides and Contaminants. " Information was based on company questionnaires, company reports, plant visits, and serum 2,3,7,8-TCDD measurements. In addition to phenoxy herbicides and chlorophenols, workers in manufacturing plants may have been exposed to raw materials, process chemicals, other agents synthesized or formulated, and impurities of all these agents. Sprayers also had a complex exposure pattern, including phenoxy herbicides and some other pesticides, their carriers and additives, and residues of chemicals formed during manufacture. Occurrence of agents, including dioxins, varied between countries. Biological monitoring and industrial hygiene data were rarely available, most since the late 1970s. Exposure of workers depended mainly on the jobs they performed, but several factors influenced level of exposure. A quantitative exposure classification is not feasible in this study. Semiquantitative exposure estimates may be derived through a critical interpretation of biological monitoring and industrial hygiene data together with individual work histories. 0 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

The EROD bioassay with H4IIE cell line was applied in this study to determine the equivalence of the results for chicken meat between the ERODH4IIE Bioassay in pg TCDD-EQ/g of tissue, and the results of the gas chromatography coupled to high resolution spectrometry (HRGC/HRMS) in pg WHO-TEQ/g of fat of TEQs. 41 compound samples of chicken drumsticks were used. The samples were obtained in slaughtering plants of 4 different production facilities of Chile, during the sacrifice of animals (38 and 43 days old) between 2004 and 2007. Each sample was analysed with both analytical techniques. A regression model for the equivalence of both techniques was determined from the results. The model obtained was: HRGC/HRMS = 0.481 + 0.051[EROD-H4IIE] 2, R2= 0.885, therefore for a value in EROD-H4IIE of 2.2 pg TCDD-EQ/g of tissue it is estimated that it will correspond to 0.73 pg WHO-TEQ/g of fat in HRGC/HRMS. Also, for the same value of EROD-H4IIE with a 95% confidence, an estimate as an upper limit equal to 0.83 pg WHO-TEQ/g of fat in HRGC/HRMS will be obtained. An upper limit equal to 0.88 pg WHO-TEQ/g of fat in HRGC/HRMS is estimated by taking the same value of EROD-H4IIE with 99% confidence. It is concluded that de EROD-H4IIE bioassay can be applied as a screening method in animal production systems and specifically in broiler chicken production

In this research, the main asked question was; "how does the values of the ratio of the mass of dioxin (an organic compound) to the wet mass of mussels -measured in
pgTEQ/gwet- changes when the habitat of Mytilus galloprovincialis mussel (either Black sea, Aegean sea or Marmara sea) changes, by calculating with DR CALUX (abbreviation for Dioxin Responsive Chemical-Activated Luciferase gene eXpression) method under the same gathering time, same season, distance to the lakeshore and depth of the sea where the population of mussels live?". In order to answer that question, this paper used M. galloprovincialis mussels as biotic indicators of dioxin levels that supposedly showed the sea pollution levels of the seas. The mussels, sized 5±1 cm, are gathered from three different locations; Tuzla, "stanbul; Karşıyaka, "zmir and Amasra. Then their dioxin levels are calculated using a method called DR CALUX that used specialized cells to produce light when it attached to a dioxin molecule. After the readings on luminometer, the results arrived. Showing that "stanbul, with mean values of 1.56 pgTEQ per wet mass of mussel, was the highest in the content of dioxin and "zmir followed up with a value of 0.86 pgTEQ/wet mass and at last Amasra was the least that resulted as 0.43 pgTEQ/wet mass that showed significance with p value smaller than 0.001 with ANOVA test. All in all, because of the population differences and the different industrial growth factors affecting the cities they yielded different results in dioxin concentration. Although the results were minimal than other countries, such dioxin level suggests that
a serious contaminant was present . As a result, this research concluded by stating the relationship that the mussels are cheap and indirect biotic indicators for detection of especially in determining cancer causing agent dioxin level sea pollutions.

Exposure patterns are reported for manufacturing and sprayer cohorts incorporated in the “IARC International Register of Workers exposed to Phenoxy Herbicides and Contaminants.” Information was based on company questionnaires, company reports, plant visits, and serum 2,3,7,8-TCDD measurements. In addition to phenoxy herbicides and chlorophenols, workers in manufacturing plants may have been exposed to raw materials, process chemicals, other agents synthesized or formulated, and impurities of all these agents. Sprayers also had a complex exposure pattern, including phenoxy herbicides and some other pesticides, their carriers and additives, and residues of chemicals formed during manufacture. Occurrence of agents, including dioxins, varied between countries. Biological monitoring and industrial hygiene data were rarely available, most since the late 1970s. Exposure of workers depended mainly on the jobs they performed, but several factors influenced level of exposure. A quantitative exposure classification is not feasible in this study. Semiquantitative exposure estimates may be derived through a critical interpretation of biological monitoring and industrial hygiene data together with individual work histories. © 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Study (UMDES) was undertaken in response to concerns that the discharge of dioxin-like compounds from the Dow Chemical Company facilities in Midland, Michigan, resulted in contaminated soils in the Tittabawassee River floodplain and areas of the city of Midland, leading to an increase in residents' body burdens of polychlorinated dibenzodioxins (PCDDs) and poly chlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs). The Dow Chemical Company has operated in Midland since 1897 and is believed to have caused two major patterns of environmental contamination: a) an aerosol plume from historic incinerators that deposited PCDDs on surficial soils downwind of the plant, principally to the north and northeast in the city of Midland; and b) contamination of the Tittabawassee River downstream of the Dow plant to the southeast with materials from chloralkali operations dating back to the World War I era. In addition, this facility was a major producer of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid and 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid during the Vietnam conflict era and has produced a number of products derived from chlorophenols.

Waste disposal is one of the most daunting problems facing industrialized countries today. As a byproduct of maintaining the associated advanced infrastructure required to support its industrial processes, the United States produced more than 254 million tons of municipal solid waste in 2014 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency [EPA], 2015). In the context of waste disposal, these “solid wastes,” which are discarded or abandoned as having negative value, can be solid, liquid, semi-solid or containerized gaseous with significant potential for endangering human lives and the environment (Friis, 2012; New York State Department of Environmental Conservation [NYSDEC], 2015). Everyone here at this facility - employees, management, owners, families, and other stakeholders - should be concerned about the disposing of solid waste because there are significant health problems that can occur as the result of the ground, air, and water pollution caused by improper disposal or the disposal process itself (Friis, 2012). As informed citizens of this country, they have a right and an obligation to be informed about solid waste management and source reduction strategies (Friis, 2012).

This presentation looks at “dioxin,” the most highly-researched toxic byproduct of solid waste found in industrial and hazardous waste sites (National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences [NIH], 2012). Most of you will likely not remember the “Agent Orange” scare in 1982, when returning war veterans began to exhibit the symptoms of exposure to dioxin through herbicides and other byproducts of wartime combustion processes. However, here we are, almost 40 years later with dioxin emissions being reduced by 90%, and the familiar threat of dioxin is in the public’s view again and demands your – our – attention.

PAH emissions from several types of industrial boilers (i.e. two different size classes of boilers namely, a small-scale light fuel oil boiler (LFO) and a medium scale heavy fuel oil boiler (HFO)), fuel types (i.e. heavy oil, diesel, biodiesel, natural gas, biomass materials), and boiler’s operating conditions (i.e. slumber mode and full frame mode) were investigated by literature review. The sum of 30 PAHs emitted from LFO and HFO was 17,060 ng mg-1 and 9,906 ng mg-1, respectively. Another report on PAH emissions from small wood boiler showed the values varied from 66 to 180 mg MJ fuel input-1 depending on the load of the boiler. Operating conditions of industrial boilers also play an important role in governing PAH emissions from the stacks. For instance, the PAH emissions from 50 kW Arimax 340 fixed retort system biomass boiler were relatively low in “slumber condition” in comparison with those of  “full frame mode” regardless of numerous types of biomass materials (i.e. larch, chestnut, and oak, and an unspecified mixture) used for the examination. Since Thailand is currently facing both environmental and energy crisis, the use of shoot and leaf from sugarcane coupled with stem from cassava appear to be the most practical choice that can provide alternative biomass fuels with comparatively low PAH emissions.

A total of 159 cases of chloracne reported in 1969^1975 in TCDD-contaminated production of the herbicide 2,4,5 -T have been followed for mortality and morbidity up to 1996 when blood and urine tests were performed on 50 survivors of these exposed chemical workers and matched controls. In exposed, the most frequent cause of sick leave was chloracne which persisted in 32%. Neurological symptoms were reported frequently (44% sleep disturbance, 32% headache, 30% neuralgia). BSR, leucocytes, g-GT, SGOT, and SGPT were signi¢cantly higher in exposed than in controls.The e¡ects of exposure (P = 0.002) and alcohol (P = 0.002) on g-GT were found to be independent of each other. Comparisons within the chloracne cohort showed signi¢cantly exposed TCDD per gram blood lipid in patients with a history of liver disease (mean 801 pg/g) than without (mean 407 pg/g). Other congeners were not found elevated but some higher chlorinated furans and PCBs were found reduced in patients with liver disease. In multiple regression analysis with the factors age, alcohol, and log TCDD, the e¡ects of TCDD and its interaction with age were found signi¢cant, indicative of chronic liver damage after high TCDD exposure at a young age. The prevalence of neurological symptoms and signs of chronic liver disease were related to TCDD in blood and abnormal poryphyrins in urine. In 48% coproporphyrin I4III ratio was elevated, this group showing increased TCDD (mean 719 pg/g). These results contribute to the evidence that chloracne is not the only chronic disease which can be related to TCDD exposure, even 23 years after exposure and despite high intersubject variability of TCDD half-life and other exposures. #