@article{Lay2021-bd,

title = {The development of a high-resolution mass spectrometry method 

 for ultra-trace analysis of chlorinated dioxins in environmental 

 and biological samples including Viet Nam era veterans},

author = {Jackson O Lay and Rohana Liyanage and Jennifer A Gidden},

year  = {2021},

date = {2021-05-01},

journal = {Mass Spectrom. Rev.},

volume = {40},

number = {3},

pages = {236–254},

publisher = {Wiley},

abstract = {Chlorinated dioxins are labeled and recognized by both the World 

 Health Organization and the United Nations Environmental 

 Programme (UNEP) as ``persistent organic pollutants''. Their 

 potential for high toxicity is one of the primary factors behind 

 intense public and regulatory scrutiny and the need to measure 

 the compounds at very low limits, specifically the isomer 

 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (2,3,7,8-TCDD). This article 

 highlights the early mass spectrometry methods to investigate, 

 detect, confirm, and quantify chlorinated dioxins and the 

 initial applications involving human biomonitoring, as attempts 

 were made to attribute health effects to TCDD exposure. This 

 effort represented a complex and difficult scientific response 

 to the pressing need to investigate expected exposures and 

 alleged subsequent medical effects, which in the case of the 

 Viet Nam veterans was being attempted a decade or more after 

 their exposure. It is noteworthy that this method and its 

 development touched on delicate issues involving human subjects, 

 war veterans, environmental contamination, and was difficult not 

 only scientifically, but for ethical and political reasons as 

 well. Stable-isotope dilution with analysis by gas 

 chromatography/high-resolution mass spectrometry (GC/HRMS) 

 became the method of choice because of its ability to monitor 

 characteristic ions and isotope ratios to quantify and 

 qualify/confirm the analyte in the presence of coextracting and 

 coeluting interferences at these low levels with the highest 

 possible confidence. This method was rigorously tested and 

 validated before it was used to discover and monitor levels in 

 the environment and in various populations at then unprecedented 

 low levels. These early studies demonstrated the feasibility of 

 monitoring dioxins in humans even decades after exposure, and 

 led to the detection of 2,3,7,8-TCDD in the general population 

 as well as specific overexposed populations. These studies also 

 provided strong evidence regarding the origins of the 

 2,3,7,8-isomer in the environment. © 2020 John Wiley 

 & Sons Ltd. Mass Spec Rev.},

keywords = {TCDD; dioxin; high resolution mass spectrometry; ultra-trace   analysis},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}