Dioxins and Health E-Book

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 1279

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2012

Beschreibung

Explores the latest science on dioxins and other POPs, and their impact on human health Now in its third edition, Dioxins and Health is the most respected reference of its kind, presenting the latest scientific findings on dioxins, dibenzofurans, polychlorinated biphenyls and related compounds, and their impact on human health. The book fully examines the many toxicological effects--including immunological, neurological, developmental, dermatological, and cardiological--these chemicals have on health. This Third Edition has been greatly expanded with the latest research findings on dioxins and related compounds. Moreover, it now includes coverage of other persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and endocrine disruptors, including: * Brominated flame retardants, such as polybrominated diphenyl ethers and hexabromocyclododecane * Perfluorinated chemicals such as perfluorooctanoic acid and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid * Other endocrine disrupting chemicals similar to POPs such as bisphenol A Readers will also learn about the latest findings on the long-term impacts caused by the use of Agent Orange in Vietnam. Other chapters review the Seveso disaster in Italy and the Yusho and Yucheng rice oil poisoning incidents in Japan and Taiwan. In addition, there is a full chapter dedicated to the dioxin poisoning of former Ukraine President Victor Yushchenko. All the chapters in the book have been written by leading international experts. References at the end of each chapter guide readers to the primary literature in the field. Expertly organized in one volume, Dioxins and Health offers readers quick access to essential information about dioxins and related compounds written in clear, simple language that is accessible to not only scientists, clinicians and public health professionals, but also general readers.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Cover

Title page

Copyright page

Dedication

PREFACE

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

ABOUT THE EDITOR

CONTRIBUTORS

LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES

CHAPTER 1 PERSISTENT ORGANIC POLLUTANTS: AN OVERVIEW

CHAPTER 2 TOXICITY EQUIVALENCE FACTORS FOR DIOXIN AND RELATED COMPOUNDS

CHAPTER 3 HISTORIC AND NEWER PERSISTENT ORGANIC POLLUTANTS IN FOOD

CHAPTER 4 FLAME RETARDANTS: POLYBROMINATED DIPHENYL ETHERS AND THEIR REPLACEMENTS

CHAPTER 5 PHARMACOKINETICS OF 2,3,7,8-TETRACHLORODIBENZO-P-DIOXIN AND RELATED COMPOUNDS

CHAPTER 8 EPIDEMIOLOGICAL EVIDENCE ON THE HEALTH EFFECTS OF PERFLUOROOCTANOIC ACID

CHAPTER 9 POLYBROMINATED DIBENZO-P-DIOXINS AND DIBENZOFURANS

CHAPTER 10 EPIDEMIOLOGICAL STUDIES ON CANCER AND EXPOSURE TO DIOXINS AND RELATED COMPOUNDS

CHAPTER 12 BISPHENOL A

CHAPTER 13 PHTHALATES: HUMAN EXPOSURE AND RELATED HEALTH EFFECTS

CHAPTER 14 THE SEVESO ACCIDENT

CHAPTER 15 AGENT ORANGE: HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES IN VIETNAM, CAMBODIA, AND LAOS

CHAPTER 16 THE YUSHO AND YUCHENG RICE OIL POISONING INCIDENTS

CHAPTER 17 THE BINGHAMTON, NEW YORK, ELECTRICAL TRANSFORMER FIRE INCIDENT OF 1981

CHAPTER 18 THE YUSHCHENKO DIOXIN POISONING: CHRONOLOGY AND PHARMACOKINETICS

CHAPTER 19 POPs AND HUMAN HEALTH RISK ASSESSMENT

CHAPTER 1 PERSISTENT ORGANIC POLLUTANTS: AN OVERVIEW

1.1 WHAT ARE POPs?

1.2 PESTICIDES AS POPs

1.3 DIOXINS, FURANS, AND PCBs

1.4 BROMINATED COMPOUNDS

1.5 PERFLUORINATED COMPOUNDS

1.6 CONCLUSIONS

CHAPTER 2 TOXICITY EQUIVALENCE FACTORS FOR DIOXIN AND RELATED COMPOUNDS

2.1 HISTORICAL CONTEXT OF TEFs

2.2 ASSUMPTIONS AND UNCERTAINTIES IN THE USE OF THE TEF METHDOLOGY

2.3 FUTURE DIRECTIONS

DISCLAIMER

CHAPTER 3 HISTORIC AND NEWER PERSISTENT ORGANIC POLLUTANTS IN FOOD

3.1 BACKGROUND

3.2 FISH AND SEAFOOD

3.3 MEAT AND POULTRY

3.4 DAIRY AND EGG

3.5 CEREALS, FRUITS, VEGETABLES, AND MISCELLANEOUS FOODS

3.6 SUMMARY

CHAPTER 4 FLAME RETARDANTS: POLYBROMINATED DIPHENYL ETHERS AND THEIR REPLACEMENTS

4.1 INTRODUCTION AND BRIEF HISTORY

4.2 EXPOSURE TO PBDEs

4.3 TOXICOLOGY AND EPIDEMIOLOGY OF PBDEs

4.4 REPLACEMENT FLAME RETARDANTS

4.5 CONCLUSION

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

CHAPTER 5 PHARMACOKINETICS OF 2,3,7,8-TETRACHLORODIBENZO-P-DIOXIN AND RELATED COMPOUNDS

5.1 INTRODUCTION

5.2 ABSORPTION/BIOAVAILABILITY FOLLOWING EXPOSURE

5.3 DISTRIBUTION

5.4 METABOLISM AND EXCRETION

5.5 PHYSIOLOGICALLY BASED PHARMACOKINETIC MODELS

5.6 PHARMACOKINETICS IN SPECIAL POPULATIONS

CHAPTER 6 IMMUNOMODULATION BY PERSISTENT ORGANIC POLLUTANTS

6.1 INTRODUCTION

6.2 OVERVIEW OF IMMUNOLOGY

6.3 OVERVIEW OF IMMUNOTOXICOLOGY

6.4 THE IMMUNOTOXICITY OF SELECTED POPs

6.5 CHLORINATED PESTICIDES

DISCLAIMER

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

CHAPTER 7 DEVELOPMENTAL NEUROTOXICITY OF DIOXINS

7.1 INTRODUCTION

7.2 EPIDEMIOLOGICAL STUDIES ON NEURODEVELOPMENTAL EFFECTS OF DIOXIN

7.3 MECHANISMS OF DIOXIN TOXICITY

7.4 OVERVIEW OF NEURODEVELOPMENT IN THE CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM

7.5 POTENTIAL FOR DEVELOPMENTAL EFFECTS DUE TO DIOXIN-MEDIATED AhR ACTIVATION

7.6 EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES ON MOLECULAR AND CELLULAR EFFECTS OF TCDD IN NEURAL MODEL SYSTEMS

7.7 EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES OF NEUROBEHAVIORAL EFFECTS OF DEVELOPMENTAL EXPOSURE TO TCDD

7.8 SUMMARY

CHAPTER 8 EPIDEMIOLOGICAL EVIDENCE ON THE HEALTH EFFECTS OF PERFLUOROOCTANOIC ACID

8.1 INTRODUCTION

8.2 LIPIDS, URIC ACID, DIABETES, CARDIOVASCULAR, AND CEREBROVASCULAR DISEASE

8.3 CANCER

8.4 IMMUNE FUNCTION, THYROID FUNCTION, HORMONES, LIVER FUNCTION, AND KIDNEY FUNCTION

8.5 REPRODUCTIVE AND DEVELOPMENTAL OUTCOMES

8.6 DISCUSSION

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

CHAPTER 9 POLYBROMINATED DIBENZO-P-DIOXINS AND DIBENZOFURANS

9.1 INTRODUCTION

9.2 PHYSICOCHEMICAL PROPERTIES

9.3 SOURCES AND FORMATION

9.4 PHYTOLYSIS AND THERMOLYSIS

9.5 ANALYTICAL METHODS

9.6 ENVIRONMENTAL DISTRIBUTION AND CONCENTRATIONS

9.7 TOXICITY OF PBDD/Fs

9.8 PHARMACOKINETICS: ABSORPTION AND ELIMINATION, BODY BURDEN AND DISTRIBUTION, TRANSFORMATION, AND METABOLISM

9.9 BIOACCUMULATION

9.10 MECHANISMS OF TOXICITY

9.11 TEFs

CHAPTER 10 EPIDEMIOLOGICAL STUDIES ON CANCER AND EXPOSURE TO DIOXINS AND RELATED COMPOUNDS

10.1 SCOPE OF EPIDEMIOLOGY

10.2 EPIDEMIOLOGICAL STUDIES ON DIOXIN-EXPOSED POPULATIONS

10.3 CLINICAL OBSERVATIONS

10.4 CASE–CONTROL STUDIES

10.5 COHORT STUDIES ON PRODUCERS AND USERS OF DIOXIN-CONTAMINATED CHEMICALS

10.6 COHORT STUDIES ON GENERAL PUBLIC AFTER ACCIDENTS

10.7 COHORT STUDIES OF PULP AND PAPER MILL WORKERS

10.8 ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURE THROUGH POLLUTION

10.9 SOME OTHER ORGANOHALOGENATED COMPOUNDS

10.10 GENERAL CONCLUSIONS

CHAPTER 11 REPRODUCTIVE AND DEVELOPMENTAL EPIDEMIOLOGY OF DIOXINS

11.1 INTRODUCTION

11.2 REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

11.3 SUMMARY

CHAPTER 12 BISPHENOL A

12.1 INTRODUCTION

12.2 CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL PROPERTIES OF BPA

12.3 USE OF BIOMONITORING STUDIES IN BPA RESEARCH

12.4 HUMAN HEALTH STUDIES OF BPA EXPOSURE IN HUMANS

12.5 ANIMAL MODEL STUDIES OF BPA TOXICITY

12.6 REGULATORY CONCERNS

12.7 ADDRESSING THE DATA GAPS

CHAPTER 13 PHTHALATES: HUMAN EXPOSURE AND RELATED HEALTH EFFECTS

13.1 INTRODUCTION

13.2 HUMAN PHTHALATE EXPOSURE

13.3 ASSESSING HUMAN EXPOSURE TO PHTHALATES

13.4 HUMAN HEALTH EFFECTS

13.5 CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE RESEARCH NEEDS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

CHAPTER 14 THE SEVESO ACCIDENT

14.1 EXPOSURE ASSESSMENT

14.2 HEALTH EFFECTS

14.3 RECLAMATION AND RESTORATION WORKS

14.4 CONCLUSIONS

CHAPTER 15 AGENT ORANGE: HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES IN VIETNAM, CAMBODIA, AND LAOS

15.1 INTRODUCTION

15.2 HISTORY OF MILITARY USE OF HERBICIDES

15.3 EXPOSED AND POTENTIALLY EXPOSED POPULATIONS IN VIETNAM

15.4 DIOXIN CONTAMINATION AND “HOT SPOTS”

15.5 EARLY STUDIES

15.6 POSTWAR INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH COOPERATION

15.7 DIOXIN “HOT SPOTS”

15.8 MITIGATION EFFORTS

15.9 REMEDIATION AT THE DA NANG BASE

15.10 U.S. GOVERNMENT SUPPORT AT DA NANG

15.11 BIEN HOA AND ITS AIRBASE

15.12 PHU CAT AIRBASE

15.13 AGENT ORANGE IN CAMBODIA, LAOS, AND VIETNAM

15.14 HEALTH IMPACTS OF AGENT ORANGE/DIOXIN

15.15 VETERANS AND AGENT ORANGE

15.16 VIETNAMESE AND HEALTH STUDIES

15.17 SUPPORT FOR VIETNAMESE BELIEVED TO BE AFFECTED BY AGENT ORANGE/DIOXIN

15.18 CONCLUSIONS

CHAPTER 16 THE YUSHO AND YUCHENG RICE OIL POISONING INCIDENTS

16.1 INTRODUCTION

16.2 EPIDEMIOLOGICAL STUDY

16.3 TOXIC AGENTS IN RICE OIL

16.4 INTAKE OF THE CONTAMINATED RICE OIL

16.5 TOXIC AGENTS IN TISSUES AND BLOOD OF YUSHO PATIENTS

16.6 CLINICAL FEATURES

16.7 HORMONE AND ENZYME EFFECTS

16.8 DEATHS AMONG YUSHO PATIENTS

16.9 RISK ASSESSMENT OF PCDDs, PCDFs, AND PCBs IN:

CHAPTER 17 THE BINGHAMTON, NEW YORK, ELECTRICAL TRANSFORMER FIRE INCIDENT OF 1981

17.1 INTRODUCTION

17.2 CHEMICAL ANALYSES AND ENVIRONMENTAL SAMPLING

17.3 TOXICOLOGY STUDIES

17.4 TOXICITY AND CLEANUP CRITERIA

17.5 STATE COMMUNICATION EFFORTS

17.6 CONCLUSIONS

DISCLAIMER

CHAPTER 18 THE YUSHCHENKO DIOXIN POISONING: CHRONOLOGY AND PHARMACOKINETICS

18.1 INTRODUCTION

18.2 METHODS

18.3 RESULTS

18.4 DISCUSSION

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

CHAPTER 19 POPs AND HUMAN HEALTH RISK ASSESSMENT

19.1 THE STOCKHOLM CONVENTION ON POPs

19.2 THE RISK ASSESSMENT PROCESS

19.3 EMERGING POPs ON THE STOCKHOLM CONVENTION LIST: AVAILABLE RISK INFORMATION

19.4 HEXACHLOROCYCLOHEXANES (α-HCH, β-HCH, AND γ-HCH)

19.5 CHLORDECONE

19.6 HEXABROMOBIPHENYL (HBB)

19.7 PENTACHLOROBENZENE (PeCB)

19.8 PERFLUOROOCTANE SULFONATE (PFOS) AND SALTS

19.9 POLYBROMINATED DIPHENYL ETHERS (PBDEs)

19.10 HEXABROMOCYCLODODECANE (HBCD)

19.11 SUMMARY

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

Index

Copyright © 2012 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.

Published simultaneously in Canada.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

Dioxins and health : including other persistent organic pollutants and endocrine

disruptors / edited by Arnold Schecter. – 3rd ed.

p. ; cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-470-60529-5 (cloth)

I. Schecter, Arnold.

[DNLM: 1. Dioxins–toxicity. 2. Environmental Pollutants–toxicity. WA 240]

LC-classification not assigned

615.9'512–dc23

2011033613

ISBN: 9780470605295

To My Family

PREFACE

This is the third edition of Dioxins and Health, which includes other persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and endocrine disruptors (EDs). The series began in 1994 with the publication of the first edition, written in an attempt to describe many complex issues related to health effects of dioxins and similar compounds in a less technical manner for those in different academic, scientific, and professional disciplines, as well as for the general public. In 2003, a second edition of Dioxins and Health was published to highlight scientific advances regarding dioxin exposure, health effects, and mechanisms of action. In organizing the second edition, we again found a number of world-class scientists to describe updated methods and findings from their disciplines. We decided to prepare a medium-sized volume with many references to introduce scientists and the general public to major issues related to dioxin rather than attempt to prepare an encyclopedic text.

With the development of what was originally meant to be a third edition of Dioxins and Health, we decided to include other POPs and endocrine disrupters, some similar to dioxins. We selected brominated flame retardants, such as polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD); perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs), such as perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS); and other endocrine disrupting chemicals similar to POPs in that they are found in human tissue at similar levels when measured, such as bisphenol A (BPA).

In the opening chapter, toxicologists Daniele Wikoff, Lauren Fitzgerald, and Linda Birnbaum introduce the readers to POPs, chemicals that are organic, toxic, persistent, and bioaccumulate. They review not only the classical POPs, such as dioxins, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and dichlorodiphenyl trichloroethane (DTT), but also emerging POPs, such as PBDEs and HBCD. The authors also provide the reader with a generalized overview of the history of POPs, the concepts of biomagnification and biomonitoring, and provide an introduction to many of the chemicals discussed in later chapters.

Following this introduction, the concept of evaluating the toxicity of mixtures of dioxins and dioxin like compounds, including dibenzofurans and some PCBs, is presented by Michael DeVito, an NIH toxicologist, who also works with the World Health Organization (WHO) and other dioxin committees. This chapter introduces dioxin toxic equivalency factors (TEFs) and toxic equivalency (TEQ), an approach used to estimate the toxicity of dioxins and dioxin-like compounds. TEFs are derived by assigning an estimated order of magnitude toxicity value to each congener. These values are multiplied by the measured amount of each congener, then summed to produce one number as an estimate of total dioxin toxicity (TEQ). This approach has been a major step forward in dealing with chemical mixtures, such as dioxins and dibenzofurans, which act by a similar mechanism of action.

The issue of chemical contamination in food is addressed by Janice Huwe, a senior chemist with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), whose work on measuring dioxins, PBDEs, and other pollutants in U.S. food is well known. She reviews classical POPs, as well as emerging POPs to which humans may be exposed through consumption of food, including seafood, meat, poultry, dairy, eggs, and grains. She also notes differences in chemical residue levels found in foods occasionally due to local environmental contamination.

PBDEs and replacement flame retardants for PBDE mixtures are discussed by environmental scientist Thomas Webster and chemist Heather Stapleton. PBDEs, widely used flame retardants in the United States, are being phased out because of their toxicity; however, they are being replaced by newer flame retardants, many of which have unknown chemical composition and may also be toxic. Despite this phase out, PBDEs are found in human populations, biota, and the environment. Details of this ongoing problem and problems originating with the use of new flame retardants are described in this chapter.

James Olson, a toxicologist who has conducted research on dioxins and related compounds for decades, discusses the pharmacokinetics of selected POPs. Olson reviews studies that show the disposition and kinetics of POPs in both human and selected animal models, providing the reader with information regarding factors that can help explain biological conditions to these compounds, such as dose-dependent and time-dependent tissue distribution.

An overview of immunology and immunotoxicology precedes a discussion of specific immunological aspects of dioxins and other POPs in the chapter written by Robert Luebke, Jamie DeWitt, Dori Germolec, Keith Salazar, and Nancy Kerkvliet. Some effects on the immune system are believed to be responsible for the toxicity of these compounds. Findings are presented that show that the sensitivity of the immune system is high during the perinatal period. Effects of POPs on the immune system include decreased ability to fight cancer and infectious diseases.

“Developmental Neurotoxicity of Dioxins,” by Jean Harry and Pamela Lein, introduces the reader to neurogenesis and provides an overview of in vitro and in vivo studies that show adverse effects on brain development. The authors focus on several possible aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) dependent mechanisms of dioxin neurotoxicity and describe certain adverse neurologic health outcomes associated with prenatal PCB exposure, including decreased IQ, psychomotor skills, and deficits in visual recognition, and memory.

Kyle Steenland, Tony Fletcher, and David Savitz describe their studies on the health effects of PFOA and their epidemiological findings in exposed and comparison populations in the chapter titled “Epidemiologic Evidence on the Health Effects of Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA).” In the past, PFCs have been used to repel stains or water in clothing and carpets, and have also been used in nonstick coatings found in some cooking utensils. Although there is considerable evidence of health effects in animal models, including several types of tumors, neonatal death loss, and toxic effects on the immune, hepatic, and endocrine systems, the effects of PFCs are not well characterized in humans. Production of some PFCs in the United States has ended, but because they are persistent, depot sources will remain in the environment for many years and will subsequently continue to contaminate members of the general population.

Chemists Kurunthachalam Kannan, Chunyang Liao, and Hyo-Bang Moon introduce polybrominated dioxins (PBDDs) and dibenzofurans (PBDFs). These compounds are not as well known as their chlorinated cousins (PCDDs and PCDFs) because of the complex and costly analytical procedures needed to study them, and also because they are frequently found at lower levels than PCDD/Fs. However, they are believed to cause similar health effects as the chlorinated dioxins and dibenzofurans. The authors provide background information on these chemicals and their origins. They also discuss similarities and differences between PBDD/Fs and PCDD/Fs.

Cancer has long been a concern from exposure to dioxins, PCBs, and related POPs. Lennart Hardell and Mikael Eriksson review the literature on this subject, including their own groundbreaking research on dioxins and cancers in humans. The authors review epidemiological studies showing associations between POPs exposure and cancers, including soft tissue sarcomas, malignant lymphomas, multiple myeloma, leukemia, nasal and nasopharangeal cancers, hepatic cancer, and gastric cancer. The cancers considered by many to have the strongest associations with dioxin exposure are non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and soft tissue sarcoma, first linked to dioxin exposure in studies by these authors.

Reproductive and developmental effects of dioxins and other POPs are discussed by epidemiologists Anne Sweeney, Deborah del Junco, Marcella Warner, and Brenda Eskenazi. Inability to conceive, spontaneous abortion, altered menstrual periods, and endometriosis are possible reproductive effects of POP exposure. The authors review many studies regarding reproductive outcomes, including the Seveso Women’s Health Study, paternal dioxin exposure, and environmental dioxin exposure.

The chapter on BPA, by Thaddeus Schug, Sarah Vogel, Laura Vandenberg, Joe Braun, Russ Hauser, Julia Taylor, Frederick vom Saal, and Jerold Heindel, provides an introduction to this endocrine disrupter. It has been commonly found in can linings and plastic bottles, such as baby bottles and water bottles. Although BPA has a short half-life in humans and is not persistent, it is sometimes considered similar to POPs because of its frequent intake. At the time of this book’s preparation, there is a debate concerning what levels of BPA intake should be considered safe. Some scientists feel present government levels are too permissive. Epidemiological studies are not consistent with respect to BPA health; however, animal studies have shown obesity, decreased semen quality, cardiovascular disease, endocrine disruption, and cancer as health effects following BPA exposure.

Phthalate health findings are presented by John D. Meeker and Kelly K. Ferguson. Phthalates are found in many products, including perfumes, deodorants, cosmetics, and other personal care products, to which most in industrialized countries are regularly exposed. Phthalates are ubiquitous and have proven to be a challenge when measured in tissue, food, and other media. Laboratory contamination with phthalates has made analysis a major challenge. Data exists on phthalate levels in biota but quantification remains difficult. The endocrine-disrupting characteristics of phthalates may lead to reproductive and developmental effects in men and women, obesity, cancers, and possibly altered sex differentiation from fetal exposure.

The next chapters of the text focus on a number of incidents characterized by the presence of certain POPs. Epidemiologists Angela Cecilia Pesatori and Pier Alberto Bertazzi describe the well-known 1976 dioxin incident in Seveso, Italy. An explosion at a chemical factory released 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) on a residential population. In contrast to Vietnam and most other dioxin contaminated locations, the site of the Seveso contamination has been converted into a public park with precautions to reduce or prevent dioxin release from the soil underlying the park. A number of epidemiological studies, assessing cancer and other health effects, have been performed from this incident.

Susan Hammond, a social activist, and Arnold Schecter, a public health physician-researcher, each long active in Vietnam work, discuss Agent Orange and its dioxin contaminant, 2,3,7,8-TCDD, sprayed in Vietnam between 1962 and 1971. They describe major issues, including persistence of dioxin in the environment, people, and wildlife; social and legal issues arising from this controversial spraying; remediation efforts; and monetary issues involved in remediation.

Two of the most definitive incidents documenting human health damage from dioxin-like chemicals have been those of the rice oil contamination incidents in Japan and Taiwan, known as Yusho and Yucheng, respectively. Certain batches of rice oil used for cooking were contaminated with PCBs, PCDFs, and other toxicants in the 1960s in Japan and 1970s in Taiwan. Approximately 2000 people were classified as victims by government agencies for each incident. Professor Yoshito Masuda, the chemist who discovered and characterized PCDFs in the Japanese incident, describes both incidents in his Yusho and Yucheng chapter, which is coauthored by physician and scientific collaborator Arnold Schecter.

A fifth event involving dioxins is the 1981 Binghamton (New York) State Office Building (BSOB) incident, in which an electrical panel caught fire and subsequently heated PCBs and chlorinated benzenes in a nearby basement electrical transformer. The heated soot moved up air ducts and stairways to contaminate the entire office building. It took 13 years and approximately $50,000,000 to sufficiently clean the building and allow reoccupancy. This incident contributed substantially to the concept, validation, and implementation of TEFs and TEQs. In addition, the incident stimulated major advances in detection of individual dioxin and dibenzofuran congeners in environmental samples, human adipose tissue (fat tissue), and blood at low levels and hence, biomonitoring. The study of this incident unexpectedly found that all persons sampled, including those from the general population, had dioxins and dibenzofurans in their bodies. Before that time, it was believed that only certain individuals had dioxin contamination. Toxicologist Nancy Kim and physician Arnold Schecter, then working for the State of New York Department of Health and for the local county (Broome County) health department, respectively, review this incident from their unique perspectives as responders beginning at the time of the incident.

John Jake Ryan, a Canadian chemist formerly with Health Canada, describes the last major incident discussed in this book: The dioxin poisoning of former Ukrainian president Viktor Yushchenko, one of the better-known dioxin incidents worldwide. Victor Yushchenko was a politician running for the presidency of Ukraine when he mysteriously became ill. This was found to be a deliberate poisoning with pure 2,3,7,8-TCDD, the most toxic dioxin. Prior to the presidential election, he attended a late-night dinner with political opponents and abruptly became ill with symptoms now known to be from dioxin poisoning. Mr. Yushchenko continued his presidential campaign and became president of Ukraine despite health problems related to the dioxin poisoning.

The final chapter in the book, written by toxicologists David Szabo and Anne Loccisano, provides the reader with a summary of human health risk assessment focusing on many of the POPs that are currently of substantial concern. It serves to bring together in one self-contained chapter an overview of the chemicals covered in previous chapters, and some new chemicals, from the perspective of how to deal with and assess human health risk from these toxic compounds.

This book presents information on historical, social, and scientific aspects of dioxins and other related POPs. It endeavors to provide the reader with a concise yet relatively comprehensive overview of major compounds currently of interest with sufficient references to help the reader pursue issues of special interest in greater depth.

ARNOLD SCHECTER

Dallas, Texas

2012

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

This book was prepared with the expert assistance of Noor Malik, Tyra Gent, James Miller, and Sarah Smith.

ABOUT THE EDITOR

Arnold Schecter is a public health and preventive medicine physician who specializes in research in biomonitoring to estimate exposure to various toxic chemicals. Collaborations include scientists in the United States, Germany, Finland, Canada, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Japan, Russia, Israel, and other countries.

He began his work with dioxins by documenting dioxin and dibenzofuran formation from an electrical transformer fire in Binghamton, New York, collaborating with various expert chemists when they demonstrated that patterns found in fat tissue and blood of exposed workers were similar to those found in environmental samples from the fire. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) later decided to ban the use of PCBs in electrical transformers in public buildings based on this and other incidents.

Later, he studied dioxins from Agent Orange in Vietnamese and Americans. His research in Vietnam began in 1984 and continues to the present. His research documented elevated dioxin levels from Agent Orange in Vietnam, including elevated dioxin levels in Vietnamese food, blood, and milk and environmental samples from defoliation agents used in previous decades. The studies also documented dioxins from other sources in Vietnamese human tissues. He and his colleagues documented elevated dioxin levels in workers as much as 30–40 years after exposure.

More recently, with other scientists and physicians, his group documented PBDE levels in the milk of nursing American women. They also noted the levels were the highest to date by orders of magnitude compared with other then-published reports from various countries. This and other works were used to reduce PBDE manufacture and use. His recent work includes the study of human and food levels of HBCD, BPA, phthalates, and other persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and endocrine disruptors (EDs). Studies of home-based electrical waste recycling workers in less developed countries are some of the newest projects.

He enjoys communicating with a broad audience through various media. He served on EPA and ATSDR on dioxin and related chemicals expert panels and also served as a (dioxin) Special Expert at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS/NIH). He has served on several scientific editorial boards. His training was at the University of Chicago, Howard Medical School, and Columbia University School of Public Health. His employment has been on the faculties of several State University of New York campuses and New Jersey Medical School, as well as with several community-based health programs. He currently is a professor at the University of Texas School of Public Health, Dallas Campus.

CONTRIBUTORS

PIER ALBERTO BERTAZZI, Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, Università degli Studi di Milano and Fondazione IRCCS Ca’ GrandaOspedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milan, Italy

LINDA BIRNBAUM, National Cancer Institute/National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Durham, NC

JOE M. BRAUN, Department of Environmental Health and Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA

DEBORAH J. DEL JUNCO, Centers for Translational Injury Research and Clinical and Translational Sciences, University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston, TX

MICHAEL DEVITO, National Toxicology Program, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Research Triangle Park, NC

JAMIE C. DEWITT, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Brody School of Medicine, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC

MIKAEL ERIKSSON, Department of Oncology, Skane University Hospital and Lund University, Lund, Sweden

BRENDA ESKENAZI, Center for Environmental Research and Children’s Health, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, CA

KELLY K. FERGUSON, Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, MI

LAUREN FITZGERALD, ToxStrategies, Austin, TX

TONY FLETCHER, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, University of London, London, UK

DORI R. GERMOLEC, Toxicology Branch, National Toxicology Program, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, NC

SUSAN HAMMOND, War Legacies Project, Chester, VT

LENNART HARDELL, Department of Oncology, University Hospital, Örebro, Sweden

G. JEAN HARRY, Laboratory of Toxicology and Pharmacology, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, NC

RUSS HAUSER, Department of Environmental Health and Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA

JEROLD J. HEINDEL, Division of Extramural Research and Training, Cellular, Organ and Systems Pathobiology Branch, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, NC

JANICE HUWE, Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture, Fargo, ND

KURUNTHACHALAM KANNAN, Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health, and Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, State University of New York at Albany, Albany, NY

NANCY I. KERKVLIET, Department of Environmental & Molecular Toxicology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR

NANCY KIM, Valatie, NY

PAMELA J. LEIN, Department of Molecular Biosciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA

CHUNYANG LIAO, Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health, and Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, State University of New York at Albany, Albany, NY

ANNE E. LOCCISANO, The Hamner Institutes for Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, NC

ROBERT W. LUEBKE, Cardiopulmonary and Immunotoxicology Branch, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC

YOSHITO MASUDA, Daiichi College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Fukuoka, Japan

JOHN D. MEEKER, Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, MI

HYO-BANG MOON, Department of Environmental Marine Sciences, College of Science and Technology, Hanyang University, Ansan, Republic of Korea

JAMES R. OLSON, University at Buffalo, State University of New York (SUNY), Buffalo, New York

ANGELA CECILIA PESATORI, Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, Università degli Studi di Milano and Fondazione IRCCS Ca’ Granda—Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milan, Italy

JOHN JAKE RYAN, Health Canada, Health Products and Food Branch, Bureau Chemical Safety, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

KEITH D. SALAZAR, Cardiopulmonary and Immunotoxicology Branch, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC

DAVID A. SAVITZ, Department of Community and Preventive Medicine, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York

ARNOLD SCHECTER, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Texas School of Public Health, Dallas Regional Campus, Dallas, TX

THADDEUS T. SCHUG, Cellular, Organ and Systems Pathobiology Branch, Division of Extramural Research and Training, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, NC

HEATHER M. STAPLETON, Nicholas School of Environment and Earth Sciences, Duke University, Durham, NC

KYLE STEENLAND, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA

ANNE SWEENEY, Texas A&M Health Science Center School of Rural Public Health, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX

DAVID T. SZABO, Curriculum in Toxicology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC

JULIA A. TAYLOR, Division of Biological Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO

LAURA N. VANDENBERG, Center for Regenerative and Developmental Biology, Department of Biology, Tufts University, Medford, MA

SARAH A. VOGEL, Johnson Family Foundation, New York, NY

FREDERICK S. VOM SAAL, Division of Biological Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO

MARCELLA WARNER, Center for Environmental Research and Children’s Health, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA

THOMAS F. WEBSTER, School of Public Health, Boston University, Boston, MA

DANIELE WIKOFF, ToxStrategies, Austin, TX

CHAPTER 1

PERSISTENT ORGANIC POLLUTANTS: AN OVERVIEW

DANIELE WIKOFF, LAUREN FITZGERALD, and LINDA BIRNBAUM

1.1 WHAT ARE POPs?

Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are a class of organic compounds that are characterized by their ability to resist degradation through environmental processes, remaining intact for long periods of time. They are semi-volatile and capable of traveling as vapor or being absorbed to particulate matter in environmental media, facilitating long-range transport. Their persistence and mobility have resulted in their ubiquitous presence in the environment, as well as biota, including humans. These chemicals are found even in the most remote areas of the world, such as deserts, open ocean, and the poles, where there is no human activity nor chemical sources, demonstrating their ability to travel such long distances. POPs also are mostly lipophilic, bioaccumulating in fat tissues, and subsequently amplifying in concentration in biota occupying the upper spectrum on the food chain.