The Yusho poisoning incident, caused by rice oil contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polychlorinated quarterphenyls (PCQs), and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) generated by heat-denatured PCBs, occurred in 1968 in western Japan. Although severe symptoms are rarely observed today, the levels of PCBs and PCDFs in the sera of Yusho patients remain high. The aryl hydrocarbon r...

The Rocky Mountain Arsenal (RMA), a Superfund site near Denver, Colorado, USA, has a history of various industrial processes that may have led to the release of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs), and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). The PCDDs, PCDFs, and non-ortho- and mono-ortho-substituted PCBs cause a common set of toxic effects that are mediat...

The European research project DIFFERENCE (“Dioxins in Food and Feed – Reference methods and New Certified Reference Materials”) was focussed on the development of alternative methods for the analysis of polychlorinated dibenzodioxins (PCDDs), dibenzofurans (PCDFs) and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (dl-PCBs) using comprehensive multi-dimensional gas chromatography (GC ́GC), gas chromatogr...

The term dioxins usually refers to polychlorinated dibenzo-dioxins (PCDDs) and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs). As 2,3,7,8-tetrachloro-dibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) has the highest toxic potential, the toxic potentials of other PCDDs and PCDFs are defined in comparison with it. Human exposure to dioxins can be environmental (background), occupational, or accidental pollution. In the human body,...

Comprehensive Gas Chromatography-Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry (GC×GC-TOFMS) methodology has been refined for the analysis of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) in samples with different matrices. This is specifically for application in developing countries where access to gas chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry (GC-HRMS) and high...

Eight sewage sludges from rural, urban and industrial wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in Catalonia (Spain) were analysed for polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), dibenzofurans (PCDFs) and biphenyls (PCBs) to determine the present levels of contamination. A method based on an automated cleanup system followed by an isotope-dilution high-resolution mass spectrometric analysis was employ...

Supported transition metal oxides and vanadium-containing multi-metallic oxides were investigated to develop new catalysts for the catalytic destruction of highly toxic polychlorinated aromatic pollutants such as polychlorinated benzenes, polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), dibenzofurans (PCDFs), and/or biphenyls (PCBs) from waste gases. The decomposition of 1,2-dichlorobenzene (Cl2Bz) w...