Abstract
Compounds related to polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) are generated through the combustion of garbage, industrial wastes and other products. Those compounds result in environmental pollution and food contamination. PCDDs are considered endocrine disrupters. Yusho and Yucheng reported two cases of accidental food poisoning in Japan in 1968 and in Taiwan in 1979, owing to ingesting rice oil contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyl, polychlorinated dibenzofurans, PCDDs and polychlorinated quaterphenyls. The toxicity of 2, 3, 7, 8-tetrachloro dibenzo-p-dioxin has been reported 2 to 10 times stronger than that of sarin. In Feb. 1997, a conference of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) was held in Lyon, France, at which TCDD was classified as a tumorigenic compound in humans.
Breast milk, blood and other body fluid contamination PCDD related compounds in Japan, is presently being studied. The present paper introduces problems of human contamination by PCDDs and related compounds.
