Polychlorodibenzo-p-dioxin and polychlorodibenzofuran concentrations in human fat samples in a village after pollution of drinking water with chlorophenols

Polychlorodibenzo-p-dioxin and polychlorodibenzofuran (PCDD/F) and polychlorobiphenyl (PCB) concentrations were analyzed in fat samples of seven people from a village where the population had been exposed to chlorophenols for over twenty years, and in seven matched controls. There was only a minor difference in both PCDD/F and PCB concentrations which seemed to reflect the general difference in background pollution between the locations. We found nothing which could be construed as evidence of elevated levels of PCDD/Fs due to the chlorophenol exposure. Hence any detrimental health effects must be considered as being due to chlorophenols rather than PCDD/F impurities.