FROM SOURCE TO EXPOSURE - SOME OPEN QUESTIONS

PCDD/PCDF are trace contaminants in industrial and thermal processes, whose formation often cannot be avoided. Although the most important sources seem to be recognized within the last years new sources have been discovered. Very often only limited data are available. For the understanding of human exposure it is necessary to understand the pathways from the source to target organs or organisms. Environmental concentrations of dioxins have to be analyzed under ectoxicological aspects. Transfer and transformation mechanisms to be considered are: evaporation, deposition, erosion, photochemical degradation.