ABSTRACT
The technique used has been developed to measure all tetra-through octa-polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and polychlorinated dibenzofurans in a single final extract. One method for estimating the exposure of humans to toxic chemicals is to measure levels in tissues. Autopsy tissues were collected from three subjects who died in New York State from natural causes. The tissue types obtained were: fat, adrenal, bone marrow, liver, muscle, spleen, kidney and lung. Crude human tissue as obtained was first homogenized without solvent to a uniform consistency with a tissue homogenizer. Highest concentrations of all analytes were found in adipose tissue. Human tissue data from both the general population and from accidental cases, as well as data from experimental animals, show that levels in adipose and liver tissues contain the highest levels. Tissues were frozen after collection and delivered in the frozen state to the analytical laboratory.
