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. 2006 Jun 23;386(4):791–806. doi: 10.1007/s00216-006-0479-1

Table 5.

Selected global environmental concentrations of PCDD/Fs

Matrix Region Concentration Range Reference Remarks
Air Europe <1 fg TEQ/m3 Typical rural
Air Europe 15,000 fg TEQ/m3 Contaminated area
Air Asia 7–1,486 fg TEQ/m3
Air South America 3–394 fg TEQ/m3
Freshwater Korea 0.001–1.061 pg TEQ/L
Freshwater Japan 0.012–48 pg TEQ/L 2,116 sites
Seawater Japan 0.005–3.9 pg TEQ/m3 12 sites
Seawater Japan ND–0.4 pg TEQ/m3 21 sites
Soil Seveso, Italy 0.91–16 pg TEQ/g
Soil Germany 1–5 pg TEQ/g [143] Rural
Soil Germany 30,000 pg TEQ/g [143] Contaminated
Soil Germany 10–30 pg TEQ/g [143] Urban
Soil The Netherlands 2.2–16 pg TEQ/g [143] Rural
Soil The Netherlands 98,000 pg TEQ/g [143] Contaminated
Soil United Kingdom <1–20 pg TEQ/g [143] Rural
Soil United Kingdom 1,585 pg TEQ/g [143] Contaminated
Soil New Zealand 0.17–1.99 pg TEQ/g [143] Rural
Soil New Zealand 260–6,670 pg TEQ/g [143] Urban
Sediments Lake Ontario 91 pg TEQ/g [165] Lakewide average
Sediments Po River 1–11 pg TEQ/g [166]
Sediments Lake Baikal 0.03 pg TEQ/g
Sediments Japan 16.1–50.7 pg TEQ/g
Sediments New Zealand 0.081–2.71 pg TEQ/g
Marine sediments North Sea 5.5–17.2 pg TEQ/g
Marine sediments Gulf of Finland 101,000 pg TEQ/g Highly contaminated
Marine sediments Catalan coast 0.4–8 pg TEQ/g [167]
Marine sediments Japan 0.012–49.3 pg TEQ/g
Vegetation Germany 0.53–1.64 pg TEQ/g Pine needles
Vegetation Austria 0.3–1.9 pg TEQ/g Spruce needles
Birds and animals India 19–24 pg/g fat [168] Eagle
Birds and animals India 150–200 pg/g fat [168] Osprey
Birds and animals India 9.2–270 pg/g fat [168] Spotted Owlet
Birds and animals India 1,300–2,700 pg dioxins/g fat [168] Spotted Owlet liver
Birds and animals India 620-1,000 pg furans/g fat [168] Spotted Owlet liver
Fish Great Lakes <1–63 pg TEQ/g [169]
Fish Great Lakes <1–59 pg TEQ/g [170] Dioxin TEQ
Fish Great Lakes <1–182 pg TEQ/g [170] PCB TEQ
Fish Finnish coast 165–329 pg TEQ/g lipid [171] Herring muscle
Fish Adriatic Sea 0.23–329 pg TEQ/g lipid [171] Mackerel>Red mullet>Anchovy
Fish Japan Sea 0.10–0.95 pg TEQ/g Cod
Marine mammals Bird Island 2 pg TEQ/g blubber [172] Fur seals
Marine mammals Canadian Arctic 2–23 pg TEQ/g ww [173] Polar bears
Marine mammals Japan Sea 0.71–13 pg TEQ/g ww Whale
Marine mammals Japan Sea 17–360 pg TEQ/g ww Whale fat
Marine mammals Australia 0.1–2.6 ng/g ww Bottlenose dolphin
Food Europe 0.3–2.5 pg TEQ/g fat [174] Milk and dairy products
Food North America 0.3–0.9 pg TEQ/g fat [174] Milk and dairy products
Food South America 0.01–2.8 pg TEQ/g fat [174] Milk and dairy products
Food Asia 0.3–1.8 pg TEQ/g fat [174] Milk and dairy products
Human milk The Netherlands 17.09–21.29 pg TEQ/g fat
Human milk Ukraine 8.38–10.16 pg TEQ/g fat
Human milk Norway 7.16–7.43 pg TEQ/g fat
Human milk Czech Republic 7.44–10.73 pg TEQ/g fat
Human milk Bulgaria 5.08–7.11 pg TEQ/g fat
Blood/serum/plasma Great Lakes 27.5 ng TEQ/L [175] Recreational fishers
Blood/serum/plasma Israel 26.6–32 ng TEQ/g fat [176]
Blood/serum/plasma A So, Vietnam 16.6–45.9 pg TEQ/g lipid [177]
Blood/serum/plasma New Zealand 12.8 pg TEQ/g serum fat [143] 1,834 samples

All citations are UNEP (2003) [160] or individual UNEP Regional Assessments unless otherwise noted. ND denotes “not detected”; ww denotes “wet weight”