Tetrachlorodibenzodioxin in the environment: sources, fate, and decontamination.

Research on the behavior and fate of pesticides in the environment has provided a number of valuable techniques for assessing the impact of any organic substance intentionally or unintentionally released in the environment. These techniques can be applied to the 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) to determine its behavior under comparable conditions. Important parameters affecting the environmental life history of any compound are movement, persistence, metabolism, plant uptake, translocation, photodecomposition, volatilization, and bioconcentration. Once these environmental properties are known about a compound, its anticipated behavior