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Polychlorinated Dibenzo-p-dioxins and Polychlorinated Dibenzofurans: The Risks to Human Health. A Review

Department of Health, Medical Toxicology and Environmental Health Division, Hannibal House, Elephant and Castle, London, SE1 6TE, UK

I.C. Dewhurst

Department of Health, Medical Toxicology and Environmental Health Division, Hannibal House, Elephant and Castle, London, SE1 6TE, UK

M. Greenberg

Department of Health, Medical Toxicology and Environmental Health Division, Hannibal House, Elephant and Castle, London, SE1 6TE, UK

1 PCDDs and PCDFs are ubiquitous and persistent in the environment. They are to be found in body tissues of both humans and animals.

2 The most extensively studied PCDD is 2,3,7,8-TCDD. It has been shown to produce a wide range of effects and is considered to be a (non-genotoxic) carcinogen in animals.

3 Studies into the mechanisms of toxicity so far reveal that there is involvement of a specific receptor (Ah), however further work is required to elucidate the mechanisms of the various effects.

4 Reports on a number of human exposures to PCDDs and PCDFs are described. Results from human epidemiological studies are difficult to interpret: there have been problems in methodology; there has been inadequate information on intake, and exposures have often been to mixtures of PCDDs and/or PCDFs together with other related compounds.

5 Many regulatory authorities faced with the problem of providing an index of risk from exposure to mixtures of PCDDs and PCDFs have employed the concept of 'TCDD equivalents'.

6 Whether or not PCDDs and PCDFs pose a significant human health risk at current levels of exposure they remain of considerable interest to the toxicologist.

Human & Experimental Toxicology, Vol. 8, No. 3, 173-203 (1989)
DOI: 10.1177/096032718900800301


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