The premier resource on dioxins, now completely revised and updated

As science continues to appreciate the prevalence and power of dioxins, so it learns more about the harmful effects and effective preventive measures regarding these chemicals. Updating the acclaimed First Edition, Dioxins and Health, Second Edition covers the latest major scientific findings on the most potent, well known, and long-lasting of the persistent organic pollutants (POPS).

The Second Edition reflects significant advances in dioxin research made in human epidemiology as well as in animal studies. Dioxins and structural analogues have been proven to cause immune alterations, nervous system effects, and cancer in humans, leading to its designation as a carcinogen by the World Health Organization. Endocrine alterations, caused by dioxins, have been shown to produce diabetes mellitus in adults and thyroid and sex hormone changes in newborns. The Second Edition reflects these new findings in a wide-ranging survey of these ubiquitous toxins. Chapters include:

• Health Risk Assessment of Dioxinlike Compounds
• Pharmacokinetics of Dioxins and Related Compounds
• Experimental Toxicology: Carcinogensis
• Reproductive and Developmental Epidemiology
• Chemical, Environmental, and Health Aspects of the Seveso, Italy Accident
• The Yusho Rice Oil Poisoning Incident
• Agent Orange in Vietnam

Toxicologists, environmental, toxicologist epidemiologists, environmental chemists, regulators, and environmental attorneys will find Dioxins and Health, Second Edition to be an invaluable resource.

US, European, and Asian scientists in a variety of medical fields explore the health implications of exposure to the class of chemicals. Writing for well-educated and intelligent lay readers who may not be familiar with details of particular specialties, they highlight findings and thinking of their own fields with a sampling of references, and discuss the relevance of the scientific data to possible human exposure and health risks. Among the topics are production, distribution, and fate; dioxins in food; toxicology; pharmacokinetics; immunotoxicology; experimental toxicology; exposure assessment; and the health consequences of the Seveso accident in Italy. The first edition appeared in 1994. Annotation (c)2003 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

"Drs Schecter and Gasiewicz have produced yet another definitive edition of this encyclopedic work on dioxins and like chemicals...a must both to be read and used as a reference." (Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, April 2005)

"It is an excellent book that will be of significant interest to many health professionals." (Journal of Environmental Quality, May-June 2004)

"It is an excellent book that will be of significant interest to many health professionals as well as many others who have an interest in the topic.” (Journal of Environmental Quality, May/June, 2004)

“...an excellent presentation of policy and science...it presents a large of information that is useful to scientific and medical experts, policy makers, and the general public.”(Chemical Health & Safety, November/December 2003)

"It's an invaluable resource that toxicologists, epidemiologists, regulators, environmental chemists and scientists will find informative and practical in their continuing search for hazard and risk evaluation criteria.” (Veterinary and Human Toxicology, October 2003)

"The editors are to be commended for authoring this second edition of a definitive work on the health effects of dioxin (the first edition was in 1994). The contributors they selected have done and excellent job at presenting the data on the health effects of dioxins and related chemicals." (Journal of Hazardous Materials, Vol. 106)

"Scientists, students, and government officials seeking to know more about...a class of chemicals with an astounding impact on environmental health policy should find…[it] a valuable reference." (Environmental Health Perspectives, September 2003)

- Written by the top researchers working in the area of dioxins.

Dioxins are the most potent, well known, and long lasting of the persistent organic pollutants (POPS), and are of great interest in public health, toxicology, chemistry, medicine, law, and to regulatory agencies worldwide. In the years since publication of the first edition of Dioxins and Health, major advances have been made in human epidemiology as well as in animal studies. The second edition updates the science involved in the dioxin and PCB literature.

ARNOLD SCHECTER, MD, MPH, is Professor of Environmental Sciences at the University of Texas School of Public Health in Dallas, Texas.

THOMAS A. GASIEWICZ, PhD, is the Chair of the Department of Environmental Health at the University of Rochester Medical Center in Rochester, New York.

Contributors.

Preface.

Chapter 1. Overview: The Dioxin Debate (Thomas F. Webster and Barry Commoner).

Chapter 2. Production, Distribution and Fate of Polychlorinated Dibenzo-p-Dioxins, Dibenzofurans, and Related Organohalogens in the Environment (Roger K. Gilpin, et al.).

Chapter 3. Dioxins and Dioxinlike PCBs ain Food (James R. Startin and Martin D. Rose).

Chapter 4. Toxicology of Dioxins and Dioxinlike Compounds (Jeanelle M. Martinez, et al.).

Chapter 5. Health Risk Characterization of Dioxins and Related Compounds (Linda S. Birnbaum and William H. Farland).

Chapter 6. Pharmacokinetics of Dioxins and Related Chemicals (James R. Olson).

Chapter 7. Dose – Response Modeling for 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (Michael J. DeVito, et al.).

Chapter 8. Immunotoxicology of Dioxins and Related Chemicals (Nancy I. Kerkvliet).

Chapter 9. Developmental and Reproductive Toxicity of Dioxins and Related Chemicals (H. Michael Theobald, et al.).

Chapter 10. Effects of Polychlorinated Biphenyls on Neuronal Signaling (Richard F. Seegal).

Chapter 11. Experimental Toxicology: Carcinogenesis (Justin G. Teeguarden and Nigel J. Walker).

Chapter 12. Ah Receptor: Involvement in Toxic Responses (Thomas A. Gasiewicz and Sang-ki Park).

Chapter 13. Biochemical Responses to Dioxins: Which Genes? Which Endpoints? (J. Kevin Kerzee, et al.).

Chapter 14. Evolutionary and Physiological Perspectives on Ah Receptor Function and Dioxin Toxicity (Mark E. Hahn).

Chapter 15. Dioxin Toxicity and Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor Signaling in Fish (Robert L. Tanguay, et al.).

Chapter 16. Exposure Assessment: Measurement of Dioxins and Related Chemicals in Human Tissues (Arnold Schecter, et al.).

Chapter 17. Human Health Effects of Polychlorinated Biphenyls (Matthew P. Longnecker, et al.).

Chapter 18. Epidemiological Studies on Cancer and Exposure to Dioxins and related Compounds (Lennart Hardell, et al.).

Chapter 19. Reproductive and Developmental Epidemiology of Dioxins (Sherry G. Selevan, et al.).

Chapter 20. Health Consequences of the Seveso, Italy, Accident (Pier Alberto Bertazzi and Alessandro di Domenico).

Chapter 21. The Yusho Rice Oil Poisoning Incident (Yoshito Masuda).

Chapter 22. The Yucheng Rice Oil Poisoning Incident (Yueliang L. Guo, et al.).

Index.