Erich W. Bretthauer, Chairman of the Exposure and Hazard Assessment Working Group U. s. Environmental Protection Agency Washington, D. C. The efforts of the Exposure and Hazard Assessment Working Group were focused on the exchange of information on a variety of topics including research projects, regulations/statutes, analytical laboratories, and methods of exposure/risk assessment involving CDDs and CDFs. It was evident to the leaders of the Working Group that several of the knowledge voids had to be addressed on a fundamental level before expanded efforts could be made. Several questions needed to be answered: • Who has done research on this topic, and what do the data indicate? • Who is performing research now, and what are their capabilities? • How are other nations addressing this problem, and do they have legislative mandates in place? • Is there a general consensus on the topic? The members of the Working Group believed that these questions could be answered by surveying the major participants in the field of interest. Three principal survey efforts were performed by the Working Group, which collected information on research, regulations/statutes, and analytical laboratories from each of the participating nations. In addition to answering these fundamental questions, these efforts also fulfilled the major objectives of the entire Pilot Study. The collection, analysis, and distribution of information on research projects, regulations/statutes, and analytical laboratories were very useful efforts in helping to fill some of the basic knowledge voids.

This volume was developed from the proceedings of a symposium held in Miami Beach, at the 189th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society.It is the result of the combined efforts of many experts whose efforts have advanced our knowledge of the production, analysis, distribution, effects and control of chlorinated dioxins, dibenzofurans and related compounds.This is the third in a series of publications originating from current technology presented at national meetings of the American Chemical Society. Using this forum as a catalyst, researchers from all over the world came together to present and discuss their data and plan future work in this rapidly developing and sometimes highly emotional technical area.

Dioxin – Environmental Fate and Health/Ecological Consequences offers a unique, and comprehensive coverage of dioxins and their congeners once they are released to the environment. The book provides readers with a systematic understanding of past and emerging sources of dioxins, current dioxins inventories and historical trends, fate and long-range transboundary atmospheric transport, human health, and ecological risk and regulatory perspective. Providing an excellent analysis of dioxin exposure through the food chain and impact on human health, it also documents the environmental implications of dioxins on ecological flora and fauna. The book offers readers a holistic understanding about dioxins, their atmospheric fate and transport, distribution in various environmental matrices and various routes and exposure pathways through which human beings are exposed to this persistent organic pollutant. It further offers an insight into the toxicological profile and mechanistic analysis of the onset of cancer, remediation technologies, and existing regulatory framework to deal with the problems associated with dioxins. The book will serve as an excellent resource to environmental professionals, particularly environmental toxicologists, environmental health professionals, remediation engineers, environmental regulatory agencies, policymakers, and environmental law professionals.

Dioxin and dioxin-like compounds, or DLCs, are found throughout the environment, in soil, water, and air. People are exposed to these unintentional environmental contaminants primarily through the food supply, although at low levels, particularly by eating animal fat in meat, dairy products, and fish. While the amount of DLCs in the environment has declined since the late 1970s, the public continues to be concerned about the safety of the food supply and the potential adverse health effects of DLC exposure, especially in groups such as developing fetuses and infants, who are more sensitive to the toxic effects of these compounds. Dioxins and Dioxin-like Compounds in the Food Supply: Strategies to Decrease Exposure, recommends policy options to reduce exposure to these contaminants while considering how implementing these options could both reduce health risks and affect nutrition, particularly in sensitive and highly exposed groups, if dietary changes are suggested.

This book originated in a series of cross-disciplinary conversations in the years 1984-1990 between the editor, who is a physician-researcher involved in clinical and laboratory research, and a dioxin toxicologist. During the years in which the conversations took place, an extraordinary amount of new scientific literature was published related to dioxins, defined for purposes of this text as the chlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins, dibenzofurans, polychlorinated biphe nyls (PCB's) and other compounds that are structurally and toxicologically similar to 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (2,3,7 ,8-TCDD), the most extensively studied and most toxic of this group of chemicals. Dioxins also began to interest not only chemists and toxicologists, but also specialists from diverse disciplines such as wildlife and environmental science, immunology, neuroscience,public health, epidemiology, med icine, government, law, sociology, and journalism. Specialists from such varied disciplines, while familiar with their own literature, frequently did not have time to follow the dioxin literature outside their specialty area. In addition, each specialty had unique knowledge, methods, and perspectives. Cross disciplinary conversation was necessary, but all too frequently, specialists from the various disciplines did not speak the same language, resulting in misunderstanding.

'Now everyone has an opportunity to learn about dioxin and the issues surrounding it, in this well-presented, multifaceted book.' Theo Colborn, Senior Program Scientist, World Wildlife Fund (USA)In Dying From Dioxin, Lois Marie Gibbs and other scientists and activists describe the alarming details of the public health crisis surrounding dioxin, and explain how citizens can organize against this toxic threat.