Marianne Hansson

Overview on environmental fate of chlorinated dioxins and dibenzofurans. Sources, levels and isomeric pattern in various matrices

Abstract Polychlorinated dioxins and dibenzofurans have been identified in technical products and pesticides, most of which are not very widely used today. Other sources are incinerators of various types like MSW incinerators, but also hazardous waste incinerators and industrial incinerators. PCDDs and PCDFs have also been identified in exhausts from cars running on leaded gasoline with halogenated additives. Background levels of PCDDs and PCDFs have been identified in fish and other aquatic organisms from the Great Lakes and the Baltic Sea, and also in human adipose tissue samples from USA, Canada, Sweden, Japan and Viet Nam as well as in samples of breast milk from Sweden, Denmark, West Germany, the Netherlands, Yugoslavia and Viet Nam. The isomeric pattern in all these biological samples is very similar.

Exposure to Dioxins and Dibenzofurans through the Consumption of Fish

BACKGROUND In some regions, including the Baltic Sea, fatty fish such as salmon and herring contain high levels of polychlorinated dibenzodioxins and dibenzofurans. We investigated human exposure to these potentially toxic substances in relation to the consumption of fish from the Baltic Sea. METHODS Plasma levels of 10 different dibenzofurans and 7 dioxins were analyzed in three groups of Swedish men: one group with a high intake of fish (fish eaten almost daily; n = 11), one with a moderate intake of fish (about once per week; n = 9), and one with no consumption of fish (usually because of allergy; n = 9). RESULTS Plasma levels of several of the compounds we measured were higher in the men with a high intake of fish than in those who consumed moderate amounts, and the levels were higher in those who ate moderate amounts of fish than in those who ate none. The median amounts of the most toxic dioxin (2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin) were 8.0 pg per gram of plasma lipid (range, 2.0 to 13) in the high-intake group, 2.6 pg per gram (range, 1.2 to 4.2) in the moderate-intake group, and 1.8 pg per gram (range, 1.0 to 2.5) in the nonconsumers (P = 0.001 and 0.02, respectively). There were consistent and statistically significant associations between the reported amount of fish eaten and the plasma levels of several of the dibenzofurans and dioxins. CONCLUSIONS Contaminated fish such as those from the Baltic Sea are an important source of exposure to polychlorinated dibenzofurans and dibenzodioxins in persons who eat fish regularly. However, the clinical consequences of such exposure remain uncertain.

Development and validation of a method for determination of PCDDs and PCDFs in human blood plasma. A multivariate comparison of blood and adipose tissue levels between Viet Nam veterans and matched controls

Abstract A method which allows measurements of low levels (fg/g) of PCDDs and PCDFs in blood plasma, has been developed and validated at four fortified levels between 0.027 ppt and 0.9 ppt. The procedure involves extraction with organic solvents, multiple cleanup using various absorbents and finally detection and quantification by multiple-ion-mode high resolution gas chromato graphy/high resolution mass spectrometry. This method has been found to have a limit of detection of 0.003 to 0.02 ppt depending on the isomer studied. Using this method, samples of blood plasma have been analyzed for PCDDs and PCDFs from Viet Nam veterans from The United States, and from matched controls, and have been compared with the results of the analyses of adipose tissue. Exposed Vietnam Veterans could be separated from matched controls using a multivariate data analysis.

Sources and Relative Importance of PCDD and PCDF Emissions

Polychlorinated dioxins (PCDD) and dibenzofurans (PCDF) have been identified in technical products and pesticides, most of which are not very widely used today. Other sources are incinerators of various types like MSW incinerators, hazardous waste incinerators and industrial incinerators. PCDDs and PCDFs have also been identified in exhausts from cars running on leaded gasoline with halogenated additives. Background levels of PCDDs and PCDFs have been identified in fish and other aquatic organisms from the Great Lakes and the Baltic Sea, and also in human adipose tissue samples from U.S.A., Canada, Sweden, Japan and Vietnam as well as in samples of breast milk from Sweden, Denmark, West Germany, the Netherlands, Yugoslavia and Vietnam. The isomeric pattern in all these biological samples is very similar. The relative importance of different sources to the general background is difficult to estimate although the contribution of direct inhalation from point sources like MSW incinerators is small.

Vascular access devices used during harvest of peripheral blood stem cells : high complication rate in patients with a long-term dialysis central venous catheter

PBSC harvesting requires good quality venous access. The efficacy and complication rate of the venous access devices used during stem cell harvest in 101 consecutive patients were examined. Four different categories of venous access were used: (1) long-term dialysis central venous catheter (dCVC), (2) short-term dCVC, (3) peripheral venous cannulae (PVC), and (4) PVC and conventional central venous catheter. The number of harvest occasions per patient or harvest days per occasion were similar between the various categories of access. Complications during harvest occurred in 13 out of 48 (27%) occasions using a long-term dCVC compared to six out of 97 (6%) in the other three categories pooled together (P < 0.01). forty-two of the 101 patients received a long-term dcvc to facilitate the harvest. the long-term dcvc was planned to stay in place and also be used as a conventional i.v. line during the following high-dose treatment. twenty-one (50%) of the long-term dcvcs were removed due to complication. thirteen (31%) of the long-term dcvcs were usable throughout the entire treatment period. in conclusion, we recommend that pbsc harvesting is performed through peripheral venous catheters when practically possible, otherwise via short-term dcvc.

Isomer specific measurement of polychlorinated dibenzodioxin and dibenzofuran isomers in human blood from American Vietnam veterans two decades after exposure to Agent Orange

Abstract In an attempt to develop a quantitative biological marker of intake of 2,3,7,8-TCDD from Agent Orange in American Vietnam veterans, 28 participants in a Commonwealth of Massachusetts study volunteered to submit one unit (450 mL) of blood for polychlorinated dibenzodioxin (PCDD) and polychlorinated dibenzofuran (PCDF) analysis. Analysis was performed for all the currently measurable PCDD/Fs in the plasma lipid. It is concluded that measurement of all detectable PCDD/Fs in body tissue is a preferable way to detect intake of a specific isomer some time in the past. It is also concluded that blood, in addition to adipose tissue, is a promising tissue to use for detecting such elevations.

Occupational exposure to polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans in a magnesium production plant

OBJECTIVES--The production of magnesium is a well known source of both aliphatic and aromatic chlorinated compounds, among others the polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs). The aim of this study was to establish whether increased concentrations of PCDDs and PCDFs could be found in the blood of workers in a magnesium plant. METHODS--Blood plasma from 10 workers, employed at a magnesium plant for 10 to 36 years, and from a control group consisting of nine people who had no direct contact with the production were studied. Isomer specific analyses of PCDDs and PCDFs by means of high resolution gas chromatography/high resolution mass spectrometry (HRGC/HRMS) techniques were performed. RESULTS--A significant increase was found in the concentrations of some of the congeners, mainly PCDFs, in the workers compared with the control group. Octachlorodibenzofuran (OCDF) is the congener that most strongly correlates with occupational exposure in the magnesium plant. Low concentrations of 1,2,3,4,6,8,9-heptachlorodibenzofuran were found in seven of the workers. Such isomers--that is, not 2,3,7,8-substituted--are rarely found in human samples. CONCLUSION--Due to the long biological half lives and lipid solubility of PCDDs and PCDFs, blood analyses may serve as an index of past cumulative occupational exposure and a means of assessing a persons exposure situation.

Correlation of adipose and blood levels of several dioxin and dibenzofuran congeners in Agent Orange exposed Viet Nam veterans

Abstract Most of the 13 dioxins and dibenzofurans analyzed in blood and fat of Viet Nam veterans were positively correlated. TCDD showed the highest correlation (r = +0.89). Other correlations ranged from −0.27 to +0.70.

Effects of fasting on blood levels of 2,3,7,8-TCDD and related compounds

Abstract The effect of fasting on blood dioxin and dibenzofuran levels was tested in thirteen Viet Nam veterans. Although 2,3,7,8-TCDD increased slightly, for no congener including TCDD was the change in level statistically significant.

SOURCES AND RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF PCDD AND PCDF EMISSIONS

Polychlorinated dioxins (PCDD) and dibenzofurans (PCDF) have been identified in technical products and pesticides, most of which are not very widely used today. Other sources are incinerators of various types like MSW incinerators, hazardous waste incinerators and industrial incinerators. PCDDs and PCDFs have also been identified in exhausts from cars running on leaded gasoline with halogenated additives. Background levels of PCDDs and PCDFs have been identified in fish and other aquatic organisms from the Great Lakes and the Baltic Sea, and also in human adipose tissue samples from U.S.A., Canada, Sweden, Japan and Vietnam as well as in samples of breast milk from Sweden, Denmark, West Germany, the Netherlands, Yugoslavia and Vietnam. The isomeric pattern in all these biological samples is very similar. The relative importance of different sources to the general background is difficult to estimate although the contribution of direct inhalation from point sources like MSW incinerators is small.