Dioxins and furans in residents of a forest industry region of Canada

Abstract

Forestry has been the major industry in British Columbia for the last century. There has been concern that by-products of pulp and paper production and chlorophenol fungicides used in sawmills may present opportunities for residents to be environmentally or occupationally exposed to polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans. To examine this possibility, dioxin and furan levels were measured in the adipose tissue of 41 British Columbians selected to match the age and sex distribution of the population and compared with levels in exposed and unexposed populations reported in the literature. Concentrations of dioxins and furans in the adipose tissue of the study subjects were in general very low, on the order of parts per trillion (pg/g lipid) for all furans and for dioxins with low levels of chlorination. Dioxin and furan levels in the British Columbia study group were similar to those of residents of other parts of Canada and to those of industrial populations not known to have direct exposure. Personal characteristics of the study subjects, including age, sex, weight, diet, area of residence, and occupation, were examined to determine whether these factors were related to dioxin and furan levels. Of these, only age showed a consistent effect; dioxin and most furan concentrations increased with age. Residence in a pulp mill town did not influence dioxin and furan concentrations. Additional investigations would be required to determine the effects of occupation and other locations of residence on dioxin concentrations in British Columbia residents.