Persistent brominated and chlorinated dioxin blood levels in a chemist. 35 years after dioxin exposure

This is the first report on occupational health hazards to dioxin chemists associated with laboratory exposure to 2,3,7,8-tetrabromodibenzodioxin (TBrDD), and further characterizes the human response to 2,3,7,8 tetrachlorodibenzodioxin (TCDD). In this case study the chemist was exposed on two separate occasions. In March 1956, after synthesizing 10 g of TBrDD, the chemist suffered from mild and transient chloracne of the neck and wrists; in September 1956, after synthesizing 16 g of TCDD, he suffered severe chloracne of the entire body, headaches, backache, and leg pain on exertion. His measured 2,3,7,8-TBrDD in 1991 was 625 parts per trillion (ppt) in whole blood lipid, 35 years after initial exposure and 18 ppt TCDD, an elevated level in comparison with the mean 2,3,7,8-TCDD level of 5 ppt in the US population. This is the first reported detection of a brominated dioxin in human tissue. The total halogenated dioxin body burden in September 1956 is estimated to have been between 13,005 ppt and 146,726 ppt. This amount can be considered to be, at least in this person, a strong chloracnegenic dose, and a dose causing human nervous system and muscular or circulatory system responses. This uptake demonstrates an occupational hazard to chemists and chemical workers, and the usefulness of human tissue dioxin measurements to document absorption.