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Estimation of Human Exposure from Fish Contaminated with Dioxins and Furans Emitted by a Resource‐Recovery Facility
Author(s) -
Goeden Helen M.,
Smith Allan H.
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
risk analysis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.972
H-Index - 130
eISSN - 1539-6924
pISSN - 0272-4332
DOI - 10.1111/j.1539-6924.1989.tb01003.x
Subject(s) - contamination , fish <actinopterygii> , furan , sediment , environmental science , environmental chemistry , incineration , waste management , chemistry , fishery , biology , ecology , paleontology , organic chemistry , engineering
Ingestion of contaminated fish can be an important human exposure pathway for dioxins and furans emitted from waste incineration plants. A new method for calculating fish contamination resulting from dioxin and furan emissions has been developed to overcome some of the problems of those currently used. The method is based on evidence that the major determinant of fish dioxin and furan uptake is sediment concentrations. Only two steps are necessary to calculate fish tissue levels. Step 1: Calculation of the concentration of dioxins and furans in particulate matter entering the lake or pond, and hence, the resulting sediment concentration. Step 2: Calculation of fish concentrations utilizing fish‐to‐sediment ratios for the various dioxin and furan isomers.