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Short report
Gender dependent accumulation of dioxins in smokers
  1. S Fierens1,
  2. G Eppe2,
  3. E De Pauw2,
  4. A Bernard1
  1. 1Unit of Toxicology and Occupational Medicine, School of Public Health, Université catholique de Louvain, 30.54 Clos-Chapelle-aux-Champs, B-1200 Brussels, Belgium
  2. 2Mass Spectrometry Laboratory, University of Liège, Allée de la Chimie 3–B6c, Sart-Tilman B-4000 Liège, Belgium
  1. Correspondence to:
 Professor A Bernard
 Unit of Toxicology and Occupational Medicine, School of Public Health, Université catholique de Louvain, 30.54 Clos-Chapelle-aux-Champs, B-1200 Brussels, Belgium; Bernardtoxi.ucl.ac.be

Abstract

Aims: To evaluate the contribution of tobacco smoking to dioxin accumulation.

Methods: Dioxin (17 PCDD/F) concentrations in fasting blood from 251 subjects (161 never smokers, 54 past smokers, and 36 current smokers) were quantified.

Results: Whereas serum dioxin concentrations of male smokers were on average 40% higher than those of non-smokers, in women, smoking was associated with significantly lower serum dioxin levels. A synergistic potentiation of dioxin metabolism by tobacco smoke in women is postulated to explain these paradoxical findings.

Conclusions: Current smoking is associated with gender dependent effects on dioxin body burden and is a potential source of confounding in human studies using blood dioxins as indicators of exposure.

  • PCDD, polychlorinated dibenzodioxins
  • PCDF, polychlorinated dibenzofurans
  • cPCB, coplanar polychlorinated biphenyls
  • TEQ, toxic equivalent
  • BMI, body mass index
  • AhR, aryl hydrocarbon receptor
  • biomarkers
  • dioxins
  • tobacco smoke

https://doi.org/10.1136/oem.2004.013730

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