These families of persistent and lipophilic chemicals recently have become very important in environmental and health evaluations. These compounds are easily formed as unwanted by-products of many commercial reactions, and they have become widespread throughout our environment. Once these chemicals are released into the environment or taken up by biological tissues, they are extremely difficult to eliminate.
Lactation is the most efficient route of excretion.
Even small amounts of exposure to this congener can have serious health repercussions. Other PCDD and PCDF congeners are not as toxic as TCDD, but they also are toxic in small doses. Exposure to these chemicals should be kept as low as possible due to their potential health risks. Some of the health effects seen with exposure to these compounds have been liver enlargement, liver lesions, immunotoxicity, a wasting syndrome, thymic and spleen atrophy, tissue specific hypo- and hyperplastic responses, carcinogenesis, endocrine disruption, and, in extreme cases, death. Much more research is needed to understand the movement of these environmental chemicals through food-producing livestock and into human foods.