Possible risk of endometriosis for Seveso, Italy, residents: an assessment of exposure to dioxin.
A recent study by Rier et al. showed that rhesus monkeys exposed daily for 4 years to 5 or 25 ppt of dioxin in food develop endometriosis, with incidence and severity related to dose. We aimed to determine whether the total time-integrated dioxin exposure of a human population could be comparable to that of Rier's monkeys. We selected a sample of residents of Seveso, Italy, who were acutely exposed to high levels of dioxin following an accident in 1976. We conducted a toxicokinetic analysis which takes into account species and exposure differences in dose and timing between humans and monkeys. The area under the time-concentration curve for dioxin in fat, which corresponds to cumulative exposure over time, ranges for some of the most heavily exposed Seveso residents from approximately 1.7 x 10(6) ppt-days to 1.1 x 10(8) ppt-days. These values exceed in all cases the values for the monkeys exposed to 25 ppt or 5 ppt. Given their exposure, the Seveso population should be an ideal epidemiologic cohort to rule out or confirm whether exposure to dioxin leads to an increased risk of endometriosis in humans.
Bois
F Y
FY
School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley 94720, USA.
Eskenazi
B
B
D000059:Accidents; D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D004715:Endometriosis / Q000209:etiology*; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D005260:Female; D005506:Food Contamination; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D008253:Macaca mulatta; D000072317:Polychlorinated Dibenzodioxins / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000097:blood / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D012307:Risk Factors
D000072317:Polychlorinated Dibenzodioxins