Abstract
Depending on process conditions, polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) may be generated as low-level byproducts of chlorophenol and chlorophenoxy herbicides manufacture. A stratified random sample of 20 active employees from a cohort of phenoxy herbicide workers was selected in 1995 for determining PCDD and PCDF congeners in blood lipids to assess the extent of past PCDD and PCDF exposure in this cohort and whether that exposure might explain site-specific cancer findings in the total cohort. This cohort is included in the IARC International Registry of Persons Exposed to Phenoxyacid Herbicides and Their Contaminants. For the 19 persons who participated, median PCDD and PCDF concentrations were comparable to background concentrations in the general population. Median levels of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin, the sum of hexachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin, pentachlorodibenzofurans, and two dioxin toxicity equivalents values were statistically higher in 7 employees assigned to synthesis operations than for 12 employees assigned to other operations. However, the PCDD and PCDF concentrations were low relative to those seen in other dioxin-exposed cohorts. We conclude that PCDD and PCDF exposures of cohort members are unlikely to explain the elevated standardized mortality ratios observed in this cohort for several cancer sites.
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