The compound 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo[b,e][1,4] dioxin (TCDD) is an impurity in the herbicide 2,4,5-T (2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid). The empirical formula is C12H4Cl4O2. Dioxin is soluble in fats, oils, and other nonpolar solvents. Prior to 1985 the herbicide 2,4,5-T was used extensively in agriculture and in Agent Orange (a fifty-fifty mixture of 2,4,5-T and 2,4-D).
The dioxin contaminate is thought to exert harmful effects on both humans and experimental animals. For example, workers in 2,4,5-T factories exhibited an occupational illness, chloracne, with early symptoms of fatigue, lassitude, depression, weight-loss and a skin condition that resembled acne. Damage to internal organs and nervous systems developed with time. In addition, the extensive use of Agent Orange in Vietnam has been associated with cancers occurring in exposed individuals. Production of wood pulp from trees treated with 2,4,5-T is another source of dioxin contamination. The most probable...
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Bibliography
Preuss, P. W., and Farland, W. H., 1993. A flagship risk assessment. EPA J., 19, 24–6.
Whiteside, T., 1979. The Pendulum and the Toxic Cloud: the Course of Dioxin Contamination. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 205 pp.
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© 1999 Kluwer Academic Publishers
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Nichols, J.A. (1999). Dioxin. In: Environmental Geology. Encyclopedia of Earth Science. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-4494-1_81
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-4494-1_81
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