Elevated Levels Of 2,3,7,8-Tcdd In The Tissue Of An Agricultural Sprayer Of Herbicides - A Single Case-Study

A U.S. domestic agricultural worker has documented an exposure to 2,3,7,8-TCDD by means of spraying 2,4,5-T herbicide on pasture land and hay ground. A sample of the herbicide that he used contains 7.7 ppb (ng of TCDD per gram of raw herbicide). The worker's adipose tissue is considerably elevated: a level of 72 ppt (whole wt.) or 77 ppt (lipid basis) of 2,3,7,8-TCDD was found ca. 5 years after the exposure had ended. The worker has had a variety of health problems including episodes of cancer of the lung, the adrenal gland, and of the colon. The latter two are probably metastatic from the carcinoma of the lung. However, no causal relationship between the exposure and health is established.