The Ah receptor and the mechanism of dioxin toxicity.

Over the last several decades, dioxins have become the subject of intense public and scientific scrutiny. This is the result of not only their widespread presence in the environment but also their great toxicity. The environmental issue has been addressed through the study of the production, release and fate of dioxins and related substances, as well as the development of analytical techniques to detect and quantify these compounds in environmental matrices. The toxicology of dioxins has been addressed principally through studies of their mechanism of toxic action using animal models and is the focus of this review. In addition, the potential threat that dioxins present to human health has been addressed in a limited manner through epidemiological studies of populations known to have been exposed to dioxins.