title: Serum dioxin levels in Vietnamese men more than 40 years after herbicide spraying.
abstract: Recent studies have found elevated dioxin levels inside some U.S. military former air bases in Vietnam, known as hotspots. Many studies of Agent Orange have been done in U.S. veterans; however, there is little known about Vietnamese men. In 2010, we collected blood samples from 97 men in a hotspot and 85 men in an unsprayed area in Northern Vietnam. Serum concentrations of not only TCDD but also other dioxins (PCDDs), furans (PCDFs), and nonortho polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were significantly higher in the hotspot than in the unsprayed area. In the hotspot, three subareas were demarcated, based on their proximity to the air base. The total toxic equivalents (TEQ) of PCDDs/PCDFs+PCBs was 41.7 pg/g lipid in the area closest to the air base, while it was around 29 pg/g lipid in the other two subareas. In the unsprayed area, the dioxin levels were no different between men who went to the South during the Vietnam War and those who remained in the North, with TEQs PCDDs/PCDFs+PCBs of around 13.6 pg/g lipid. Our findings suggested that people living close to the former U.S. air bases might have been exposed to both Agent Orange and other sources of dioxin-like compounds.
authors.affiliation: Division of Health Sciences, Graduate School of Medical Science, Kanazawa University , 5-11-80 Kodatsuno, Kanazawa 920-8640, Japan.
authors.forename: Ho Dung
authors.initials: HD
authors.lastname: Manh
authors.forename: Teruhiko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kido
authors.forename: Rie
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Okamoto
authors.forename: Sun
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Xianliang
authors.forename: Le Thai
authors.initials: le T
authors.lastname: Anh
authors.forename: Supratman
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Supratman
authors.forename: Shoko
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Maruzeni
authors.forename: Muneko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nishijo
authors.forename: Hideaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nakagawa
authors.forename: Seijiro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Honma
authors.forename: Takeshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nakano
authors.forename: Takumi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Takasuga
authors.forename: Dang Duc
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Nhu
authors.forename: Nguyen Ngoc
authors.initials: NN
authors.lastname: Hung
authors.forename: Le Ke
authors.initials: le K
authors.lastname: Son
mesh_terms: D015085:2,4,5-Trichlorophenoxyacetic Acid / Q000097:blood; D015084:2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic Acid / Q000097:blood; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000075182:Agent Orange; D004147:Dioxins / Q000097:blood*; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000032:analysis*; D005663:Furans / Q000097:blood; D006540:Herbicides / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls / Q000097:blood; D000072317:Polychlorinated Dibenzodioxins / Q000097:blood; D014744:Vietnam; D047829:Vietnam Conflict
chemical_list: D004147:Dioxins; D005663:Furans; D006540:Herbicides; D000072317:Polychlorinated Dibenzodioxins; D015084:2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic Acid; D000075182:Agent Orange; D015085:2,4,5-Trichlorophenoxyacetic Acid; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls