[ OSH-Link Home
| IVI Online
| Comments ]
Dioxin like compounds in blood and semen were measured in Vietnam veterans via new analytic techniques to calculate total dioxin toxicity. The participants were 50 veterans from the Michigan Vietnam veteran bonus list who were exposed to Agent Orange and had a history of cancer or had fathered a child with birth defects. A subgroup of 17 men volunteered to give semen samples. One unit (450 milliliters) of whole blood was collected from nonfasting men. Dioxin compounds were analyzed by high resolution gas chromatography and mass spectroscopy. Six (12%) of the subjects had elevated 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) levels, with all showing levels above 20 parts per trillion (ppt). Four of 24 Army personnel (17%) and two of 14 Air Force personnel (14%) had blood TCDD levels above 10ppt. A blood TCDD level above 10ppt was considered to be elevated compared to the general population. For the 44 veterans without TCDD elevation, TCDD averaged 3.8ppt, and total equivalent toxicity (TEQ) averaged 26.6ppt. For all 50 veterans, TCDD averaged 8.98ppt and ranged from 0.88 to 131ppt. The mean grand total TEQ from dioxin, dibenzofuran and polychlorinated biphenyls was 54.3ppt. Dioxin and dibenzofuran were detected in semen at parts per quadrillion levels. According to the authors, this was the first time dioxins were documented in semen. The authors conclude that elevated blood TCDD levels can be detected between two and three decades after potential exposure in some American veterans, and that the discovery of dioxins in semen implies a possible mechanism for male mediated adverse reproductive outcomes due to Agent Orange or other dioxin exposures.
American Journal of Industrial Medicine, 30(6):647-654, 1996. (44 references)
You can do a search of the OSH-DB database and get a list of articles on any topic of interest on our Visitor Search Page. Access to read the articles is limited to OSH-DB subscribers.