What are the health effects of dioxin on humans?
Studies have shown that dioxin exposure at high levels in exposed chemical workers leads to an increase in cancer. Other studies in highly exposed people show that dioxin exposure can lead to reproductive and developmental problems, increased heart disease and increased diabetes. Dioxins ability to cause birth defects (teratogenicity) has not been established in humans but studies in mice have shown that dioxin and similar chemicals can produce congenital defects. In general the effects of dioxin on humans were only observed in populations that were highly exposed. The effect of the long term low level exposure that is normally experienced by the general population is not known. The long-term effects of dioxin exposure on human immunity, reproduction and development, and other organs and systems remain focal points for ongoing research, as are the molecular and cellular mechanisms by which dioxin causes these health effects. What are the biological mechanisms of dioxin’s toxicity? The
