The clinical recognition of dioxin-associated illness can be extremely difficult for the physician. After analyzing the relative sensitivity and specificity of reported manifestations of exposure to 2,3,7,8 tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD), we suggest criteria for the diagnosis of dioxin toxicity.
Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), commonly known as dioxins, form as unwanted impurities in the manufacturing of chlorophenol and its derivatives--pulp and paper--and in the combustion of municipal, sewage-sludge, hospital, and hazardous waste. Combustion, in presence of a chlorine donor,