title: Dioxin and furan residues in wood mice (Apodemus sylvaticus) following a large scale polyvinyl chloride (PVC) fire.
abstract: A forest ecosystem was contaminated as a result of a fire involving 600 t of PVC. A wide range of 2,3,7,8-substituted dioxin and furan congeners were elevated (by up to 4-fold) on soil adjacent to the factory compared to a site 200 m from the factory perimeter. Livers of wood mice (Apodemus sylvaticus) caught on these areas were also analysed for dioxins and furans. Toxic equivalents (TEQs) were 9-fold higher in wood mice caught on the site 10 m from the factory perimeter compared with the site 200 m from the perimeter, with individual 2,3,7,8-substituted congeners being elevated by up to 30-fold. Wood mouse liver TEQs were found to be highly correlated with cadmium kidney concentrations, cadmium also being found at elevated concentrations at the accident site. There was also a significant positive correlation between wood mouse liver TEQs and relative liver weights (wet weights expressed as a percentage of total body weight). The results of this study are discussed in the wider context of dioxin contamination in the environment.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Terrestrial Ecology, Monks Wood, Abbots Ripton, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire PE17 2LS, UK.
authors.forename: A A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Meharg
authors.forename: R F
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Shore
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: French
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Osborn