Chlorinated pesticides can contain impurities of dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs), and their precursors, as a result of various manufacturing processes and conditions. As precursor formation of PCDD/Fs can also be mediated by ultraviolet light (UV), this study investigated whether PCDD/Fs are formed when currently used pesticides are exposed to natural sunlight. Formulations contai...

Sludge decomposition gases (SDG) have been identified as potential PCDD/F-inhibitors, since they contain high concentrations of NH3 and SO2 as well as various unidentified Nand S-compounds. The effects of sludge dosage, its treatment temperature and oxygen content on PCDD/Fs suppression were observed during test runs using a model fly ash (MFA) system, generating high chlorinated PCDD/Fs. The e...

Evaluation of immunoaffinity columns (IACs) for dioxin serum sample clean-up requires a determination of the recovery of various dioxin congeners. We compared the IAC performance of different monoclonal and polyclonal anti-dioxin antibodies, measuring the recovery of congeners of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs). In addition, we measured the recovery of congeners of the structurally re...

Breast tissues from four male Australasian harriers (Circus approxmans) were analysed for polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) pesticides at the AgriQuality Environmental ultra-trace analytical unit. The harriers were injured birds collected and euthanased over the period from 1998 to 1999 by Bird Rescue Wanganui-M...

OBJECTIVES To find whether concentrations of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) in serum increased in workers at municipal incinerators that burn continuously. METHODS 30 Workers employed at three municipal waste incineration plants (incinerator workers) and 30 control workers were studied. The incinerator workers had worn dust masks or airline...

Pesticide use and deposition of pesticide production residues contribute to environmental PCDD/PCDF contamination, in particular on a historical scale. Despite potentially substantial quantities of PCDD/PCDF emission, and remaining depositions via this route, only limited information is available on the resulting environmental contamination load or pathways. The total dioxin emission from the u...

The present review discusses the current views on methods to minimise dioxins, namely polychlorinated dibenzodioxins (PCDDs) and dibenzofurans (PCDFs), formation in MSW incineration systems. The structure of this group of compounds is discussed initially and then the toxic equivalence scale is presented for the most common isomers and congeners in the dioxin family. The current status on dioxin...

Dear fellow diabetes investigators, you, myself and our Editorin-Chief, Dr Hotta, have the same goal; to do something about the epidemic of diabetes in Asia. I will not show the numbers again, as you have seen enough; simply there are too many people around us with diabetes. Why there are so many? Professor Eung-Jin Kim, Honorary President of Korean Diabetes Association, told me that diabetes w...

The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) is a ligand-dependent, basic helix-loop-helix Per-ARNTSim (PAS) containing transcription factor that can bind and be activated by structurally diverse chemicals, including the toxic environmental contaminant 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD). As no experimentally determined structures of the AhR ligand binding domain (LBD) are available and previous ...