A GIS study of dioxin contamination in a Vietnamese region sprayed with herbicide.
OBJECTIVE
The American-Vietnam War ended over 35 years ago, but dioxins still remain in human tissue and Vietnam's environment. The main objective of this study was to assess the correlation between dioxin concentration in soil, sediment and breast milk in one of the areas sprayed with herbicide, namely Cam Chinh commune, Quang Tri province, using a geographic information system (GIS).


METHODS
The concentration of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) in soil, sediment and breast milk samples was determined and the data analyzed using the geostatistical log-normal Kriging algorithm.


RESULTS
The mean dioxin levels in soil and breast milk in the sprayed area were significantly higher than those in the non-sprayed area. The distribution pattern of PCDDs and PCDFs in soil was different, and there were no significant correlations between the estimated dioxin levels in soil obtained by the Kriging method and those in breast milk.


CONCLUSIONS
The possibility remains that another exposure route, such as exposure to herbicides used during the Vietnam War, might affect dioxin levels in breast milk, although more soil data are needed to make more reliable geographical estimations.
Nhu
Dang Duc
DD
Division of Health Sciences, Graduate School of Medical Science, Kanazawa University, 5-11-80 Kodatsuno, Kanazawa, Ishikawa, 920-0942, Japan, dangnhu258@yahoo.com.
Kido
Teruhiko
T
Naganuma
Rie
R
Sawano
Nobuhiro
N
Tawara
Kenji
K
Nishijo
Muneko
M
Nakagawa
Hideaki
H
Hung
Nguyen Ngoc
NN
Thom
Le Thi Hong
le TH