Evaluation of age, gender and regional concentration differences for dioxin-like chemicals in the Australian population

The results of this study provide a measure of the levels of dioxin-like compounds (polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins, polychlorinated dibenzofurans and polychlorinated biphenyls) in pooled blood serum collected throughout Australia in 2003. De-identified samples selected from surplus pathology samples were stratified on the basis of gender, region and age. In total 9090 samples were collected and analysed as 96 pools.Dioxin-like chemicals were detected in all strata. The mean and median levels expressed as TEQ values for all pooled samples were 10.9 ± 1.0 pg TEQ g−1 lipid and 8.3 pg TEQ g−1 lipid. For males and females the mean levels were 10.4 ± 0.6 pg TEQ g−1 lipid and 11.5 ± 1.5 pg TEQ g−1 lipid, respectively.A direct relationship of increasing dioxin-like chemical levels with increasing age was observed and could be described by the following equation:Levels in blood expressed as pgTEQg-1lipid=3.3exp0.0251age(r2=0.87).No significant differences were observed in the levels of dioxin-like chemicals in samples collected from males and females. In addition, the levels of dioxin-like chemicals across the five regions were similar within each age range.In summary, the levels of dioxin-like chemicals in the Australian population are low compared to international levels and are similar across all regions of Australia within each designated age range. The levels of these chemicals increase with age and can be estimated if the age of an individual is known.