title: Secondary exposure to dioxins through exposure to PCP and its derivatives.
abstract: This study discusses the potential exposure of occupational workers and general consumers in the European Union (EU) to polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) caused by exposure to pentachlorophenol (PCP) and its derivatives. A synthesis of reported exposure data relating exposure to PCP and its derivatives in an occupational setting has indicated that the PCDD/F intake for exposure in the 1990s averaged over a lifetime is likely to be in the order of 0.02-1 pg I-TEQ kg-1 bw day-1 with actual exposures more likely to occur at the lower end of the range, around the median of 0.16 pg I-TEQ kg-1 bw day-1. Workers who have experienced past exposure to PCP and its derivatives especially in the early to mid 1980s, will have been subjected to higher exposures to PCDD/Fs due to the generally higher concentrations of PCDD/Fs in PCP products at that time. Exposure to PCP and its derivatives via the food chain is judged to be the most significant intake route of PCDD/Fs into consumers. The ingestion of milk and dairy products obtained from cows grazed on pasture dressed with sewage sludge has the potential to raise the average daily intake of PCDD/Fs via the diet by about 40% if all foods consumed derived from sludge amended soil. To the extent quantifiable, exposure to PCP in an occupational setting contributed approximately 16% as a median to the overall background exposure to PCDD/Fs, while for consumers this contribution ranged from 2 to 60% depending on the exposure to sludge amended foods.
authors.affiliation: ERM, Oxford, UK.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Eduljee
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004147:Dioxins / Q000032:analysis*; D004435:Eating; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000032:analysis; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D005060:Europe; D005260:Female; D020387:Food Chain; D005506:Food Contamination; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000032:analysis; D010622:Phencyclidine / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry; D012722:Sewage
chemical_list: D004147:Dioxins; D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D012722:Sewage; D010622:Phencyclidine