Blood levels of polychlorinated dibenzodioxins, polychlorinated dibenzofurans and polychlorinated biphenyls in the general population of a Spanish Mediterranean city

Polychlorinated dibenzodioxins (PCDDs), Polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) and Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are among the most toxic environmental pollutants. We determined blood levels of these compounds in a population sample of the city of Mataró, Spain. Blood samples were drawn from a randomly selected sample of 198 subjects, of both genders, aged 18 to 69 years. These samples were pooled into 10 groups for laboratory analysis. For males, total level of PCDDs was 505.7 ppt, of PCDFs was 26.7 ppt, and the international toxic equivalent (I-TEQ) was 12.5. For females the levels were 739 ppt, 28.8 ppt and 14.7 I-TEQ, respectively. The most important contributors of the total I-TEQ were HexaCDD, PentaCDD and PentaCDF. The blood concentration of total PCBs was 2.02 mg/l in males, and 1.58 mg/l in females. Levels of PCDDs, PCDFs and PCBs increased by age in both sexes. The levels of PCDDs and PCDFs in residents of this Mediterranean city are among the lowest observed in industrialized countries.