1. ¹Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, 1600 Clifton Road, MS-E32, Atlanta, Georgia 30333, USA
2. ²Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road, MS-F17, Atlanta, Georgia 30333, USA

Correspondence: Dr. Kenneth G. Orloff, Express mail address: 3119 Executive Park, Atlanta, GA 30329; U.S. Mail address: 1600 Clifton Road, MS-E32, Atlanta, GA 30333. Tel.: +1-404-498-0506. Fax: +1-404-498-0509. E-mail: keo1@cdc.gov

^*Tel.: +1-404-498-0122. Fax: +1-404-498-0509.

^†Tel.: +1-770-488-7974. Fax: +1-770-488-4609.

Received 19 June 2001.

Abstract

The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) conducted biological testing to assess dioxin exposure in residents of a community who lived in an area with heavy chemical industry. Dioxin concentrations were measured in blood serum samples from 28 adult residents of the community. Fourteen of those tested had blood dioxin concentrations that exceeded the 95th percentile prediction level of an age-matched comparison population. Specific congener analyses indicated that the elevated dioxin concentrations were primarily due to high concentrations of 2,3,7,8 tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD), 1,2,3,7,8 pentachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (PeCDD), and hexachlorodibenzo-p-dioxins (HxCDs). Principal components analysis (PCA) indicated that the profiles of dioxin congeners were different in people with elevated blood dioxin concentrations compared to those with background concentrations. Elevated blood dioxin concentrations were detected only in older members of the population, which suggests that dioxin exposures were higher in the past. The sources of the dioxin exposure have not been identified.