CONCENTRATIONS OF PCDDS AND PCDFS IN HUMAN TISSUE 36 YEARS AFTER ACCIDENTAL DIOXIN EXPOSURE

Since 1989, several members of the 1953 BASF dioxin accident cohort ha ve died, including four whose deaths were due to cancer. For these ind ividuals, either autopsy or biopsy material was obtained for quantitat ive PCDD and PCDF analysis. Concentrations of 2,3,7,8-TCDD were elevat ed in all individuals and tissues sampled compared to ''background''. On a lipid weight basis, 2,3,7,8-TCDD concentrations in blood correlat ed well with those of other tissues. The higher chlorinated dioxins an d furans preferentially accumulated in liver tissues. The relative con centrations of PCDDs and PCDFs declined in brain tissue with increasin g degree of chlorination. During cancer cachexia, up to a 14-fold incr ease in 2,3,7,8-TCDD blood concentration was observed during the last months of life.