[Exposure to dioxins in the environment and their health risk]

Dioxins and related compounds are causing great concern to the public in terms of the health risk posed by exposure to these compounds in the environment. Studies in recent years have suggested that developmental effects rather than cancer or general systemic effects should be given more attention. In this review, I have summarized and discussed the unique toxicities of dioxins and related compounds on the basis of our own experimental studies as well as those of others in the following four aspects: (1) endpoints at a low dioxin dose, (2) critical sensitivity window to dioxin exposure and disruption of homeostasis, (3) arylhydrocarbon receptor (AhR)-mediated and AhR-independent toxicities and (4) differences in susceptibility between humans and rodents, and that between strains of identical species.