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Article: Monitoring Dioxins.
- Article from:
- Agricultural Research
- Article date:
- January 1, 2001
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 U.S. Government Printing Office. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Dioxins, a family of 210 compounds of which 17 are considered toxic and virtually nonbiodegradable, pose an environmental hazard that may be watched even more closely with the advent of technology being developed by Agricultural Research Service scientists.
Produced by natural and industrial processes, dioxins are chlorinated aromatic compounds that can build up in fatty tissue and may increase the risk of tumors and possibly other undesirable health effects. Some forms, or congeners, of dioxins are more toxic than others. One, known chemically as 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin, is so toxic that, according to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ...