ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the development of the technique of fat biopsy followed by isomer-specific identification and quantification of dioxins and furans. Dioxins are present at higher levels than furans and, in general, the highest levels are found of the more highly polychlorinated dibenzofurans and poly-chlorinated Dibenzo-p-dioxins than of lesser chlorinated ones. The polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) mixture found in the transformer was similar to the pattern of PCB and furan isomers found in the adipose tissue, the soot, and an Arochlor-1254 sample. Adipose tissue samples have yielded considerable variation in lipid content, quite possibly due to the specimen containing blood, serum, and tissue components other than pure fatty tissue, when a surgical sample is presented for chemical analysis. The use of suction or aspiration to remove subcutaneous adipose tissue from a patient simplifies the process and reduces costs, bypassing, when desired, the hospital and surgical suite.
