Dioxins (full name - polychlorinated derivatives of dibenzodioxin) are a group of organic compounds formed by combustion products of substances containing chlorine and bromine.
Source: depositphotos.com
Dioxins enter the environment as a result of emissions from chemical enterprises producing polyethylene, plastics, mineral fertilizers, paper. Particles of harmful emissions are in the air and penetrate the soil and water, infecting them. The poison then accumulates in the plants, as well as in the tissues of the animals that eat them.
Dioxins are also formed during normal boiling of chlorinated water.
Dioxins belong to the group of poisons with a cumulative effect: penetrating into the body, they gradually accumulate in it, depositing mainly in adipose tissue, and when their concentration becomes high, symptoms of poisoning occur.
The lethal dose of dioxin is 6–10 g per kilogram of body weight, but the threshold dose to cause symptoms of poisoning is much lower. When the threshold dose is exceeded, the poison begins to damage cellular enzymes, thereby disrupting the normal course of biochemical reactions. The germ cells are significantly affected, which causes the mutagenic effect of dioxin.
It is important to note: the presence of dioxin in the body increases its sensitivity to the effects of other toxic substances, including mercury and lead salts, cadmium, sulfides, nitrates, and chlorophenols.
Dioxin intoxication enhances the damaging effects of ionizing radiation, which significantly increases the risk of developing malignant neoplasms.
Symptoms of poisoning
Dioxins enter the body through the digestive tract or inhalation. The toxic effect appears after a long time from the beginning of the poison entering the body. Signs of dioxin poisoning:
- a sharp decrease in appetite, up to a complete refusal to eat;
- exhaustion;
- severe muscle weakness;
- characteristic changes in the picture of peripheral blood (leukocytosis, neutrophilia, eosinopenia and lymphopenia).
Subsequently, symptoms develop due to damage to immunocompetent tissues and the liver, as well as pancytopenic syndrome:
- swelling of the face, and later of the entire body;
- effusion in the pericardial cavity, pleural and abdominal cavities.
With less severe dioxin poisoning, the pathological process occurs with mild symptoms and can last for several years. Symptoms in this case are associated with metabolic disorders and damage to endodermal and exodermal tissues ( skin, intestines, stomach, liver). Damage to lymphoid and nervous tissue causes dysfunction of the nervous and endocrine system.
Mild dioxin poisoning often manifests itself with only one symptom – chloracne, a specific type of acne. Their appearance is associated with lipid metabolism disorders and blockage of the ducts of the sebaceous glands, which leads to the development of an inflammatory process in them.
Source: depositphotos.com
First aid for dioxin poisoning
Given that the symptoms of dioxin poisoning develop over a long period of time, there is no need to provide first aid.
When is medical help needed?
If you suspect dioxin poisoning, you should seek medical help as soon as possible.
There are no specific antidotes to dioxin; symptomatic therapy is prescribed, aimed at improving metabolism and correcting impaired functions internal organs. To speed up the removal of poison from the body, repeated sessions of plasmapheresis are performed, followed by replacement plasma transfusions.
With the development of pancytopenia, blood transfusions and transfusions of blood components (leukocytes, platelets or red blood cells) may be required.
Prevention
Prevention of dioxin poisoning requires compliance with the following rules:
- do not hunt or fish near chemical plants;
- do not eat plant products grown in an unknown place and not having the necessary sanitary and hygienic certificates;
- do not drink chlorinated water, especially after boiling it;
- do not burn on personal plots or common areas plastic products, do not try to dispose of any chemicals, such as mineral fertilizers, yourself.
Video from YouTube on the topic of the article:
Anesthesiologist-resuscitator
Education: graduated from the Tashkent State Medical Institute with a degree in general medicine in 1991. Repeatedly took advanced training courses.
Work experience: anesthesiologist-resuscitator at a city maternity complex, resuscitator at the hemodialysis department.
The information is generalized and is provided for informational purposes. At the first signs of illness, consult a doctor. Self-medication is dangerous to health!
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Dioxin belongs to the group of polycyclic compounds that are formed due to human (anthropogenic) activities. Thus, it turns out that Dioxin is a toxic compound that arose solely due to human fault. It would be more correct to use the term dioxins.
The substances are solid crystalline structures, colorless and odorless. By their nature they are inert and heat stable. Dioxins include a large number of chemicals: organochlorine, organobromine, organochlorine-bromine ether compounds.
Effect of dioxins
Almost all of these substances (about 95%) enter the human body with food and water, in which they can accumulate and be stored for a long time. The rest of these compounds can enter the body through inhalation of polluted air or dust. And also do not forget about the percutaneous (transcutaneous) method of penetration into the body.
Once inside, toxic compounds travel with the bloodstream. They are able to be deposited in all cells of the body. Due to their structural features, dioxins have the following properties:
- almost insoluble in water;
- are better soluble in organic compounds.
Therefore, the substances are very chemically stable compounds. They decompose extremely slowly, so they remain unchanged in the environment for hundreds of years.
It is recommended to read in what cases it helps the body.
Even minimal doses of dioxin cause changes in the genetic apparatus of the cell, which leads to the development of chronic intoxication (poisoning) and significantly increases the risk of tumor formation. Mutagens and carcinogens manifest themselves in a similar way (see).
Dioxin poisoning is characterized by:
- losing weight;
- poor appetite (up to its complete loss);
- skin diseases;
- acute depressive states;
- drowsiness;
- damage to nerve fibers;
- dysmetabolic manifestations;
- changes in blood composition.
Dioxins and their effects on the human body have been well studied. Once in the body, they inhibit immune processes, disrupt the processes of mitosis and meiosis, and become the cause of oncological pathologies.
The compounds affect the functioning of the endocrine glands, which disrupts metabolic processes, reproduction and tissue growth. The balance of hormonal production of the pancreas and thyroid glands, sex glands is disrupted, and the likelihood of developing diabetes mellitus increases. Slows down a lot puberty, the risk of infertility and abortion, and fetal developmental abnormalities increases.
Women note disruptions in normal menstrual cycle, reproductive dysfunction may develop. The peculiarity of these processes is that they pass unnoticed. Under the influence of toxins, metabolic processes are disrupted, the immune system is sharply suppressed, up to the development of immunodeficiency (it can reach the state of “chemically induced AIDS”).
Developing organisms: embryos, fetuses and children are extremely susceptible to these poisons. And since the substance has a long latent period, it is quite difficult to understand whether a person is sick. In addition, the effect of substances of this type directly depends on the size of the absorbed doses and age.
Dioxin compounds can accumulate in pregnant women and be released along with breast milk. In addition, they are able to be transferred through the placenta to the fetus. Approximately forty percent of all these toxins during breastfeeding pass into the baby.
Substances that enhance the effects of dioxins
The effect of dioxins is not noticeable until a critical dose of these substances accumulates in the body. That's when the disease manifests itself. The dose that can lead to human death ranges from ten grams per kilogram of body weight. But at the same time, any (including below critical) dose of chemical compounds is toxic. In addition, dioxin synergists exist in nature - these are substances that can enhance the effect of these poisons. This is especially typical for the carcinogenic effect of compounds (see).
Such substances include:
- lead and its salts,
- cadmium,
- mercury,
- nitrates,
- sulfides,
- chlorophenols,
- exposure to ionizing radiation.
Dioxin and dioxidin in medicine
Dioxin and dioxidin (a drug based on it) are used in medicine. Having read the above information, the question arises: “Where is dioxin used, after all, it is a deadly poison?” It is used in medicine in extremely small doses. The substance belongs to antibacterial drugs with a wide spectrum of action. Its use is highly effective in the fight against aerobic and anaerobic pathogens.
Dioxin preparations are indicated for use in the presence of a purulent-inflammatory process in the chest or abdominal cavity, used in the treatment of deep wounds, abscesses and phlegmons. In addition, it is used to prevent infections after insertion of a urinary catheter.
How to remove dioxin from the body
How to remove dioxin from the body:
- ensure a sufficient supply of clean air;
- perform gastric lavage;
- force the patient to take a large dose of sorbents;
- the patient should drink plenty of fluids;
- the patient is taken to a medical facility where he can receive qualified assistance.
It is useful to read about acute and chronic: causes, symptoms, assistance.
It is important to find out how it helps and what water is recommended to drink.
All about: principles of nutrition, rules of cooking, permitted and prohibited foods.
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The history of mankind knows many cases of the appearance of large quantities of potentially dangerous substances in the biosphere. The impact of these xenobiotics (as we recall, substances unacceptable for living organisms are called) has sometimes caused tragic consequences, as exemplified by the story of the insecticide DDT. Dioxin has become even more notorious. For a long time, the name of this substance was associated with South Vietnam and the Italian city of Seveso, whose residents fully felt how deadly this compound is. But over time, the geography of dioxins expanded to the size of the entire planet.
Dioxin, or rather 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin, is a compound containing two benzene rings in which two hydrogen atoms are replaced by chlorine. The rings are connected by two bridges of oxygen atoms:
 |
Such a simple and elegant formula belongs to the most toxic of all non-protein poisons, the effect of which is stronger than cyanide, strychnine, curare, soman, sarin, tabun, VX gas. Only biological toxins are more toxic than dioxin.
Toxicity of dioxin and some poisons
Substance
Animal
Minimum lethal dose, micromol/kg
Botulinum toxin
mouse
3,3.10 -17
Diphtheria toxin
mouse
4,2.10 -12
Dioxin
guinea pig
3,1.10 -9
Curare
mouse
7,2.10 -7
Strychnine
mouse
1,5.10 -6
Diisopropyl fluorophosphate
mouse
1,6.10 -5
Sodium cyanide
mouse
3,1.10 -4
____________________________________________
K1 Table taken from the article:
A.V. Fokin, A.F. Kolomiets Dioxin - a scientific or social problem? - Nature magazine No. 3, 1985 and probably contains a typo: judging by the order of magnitude, the unit of measurement should not be micromol/kg, but mol/kg.
But dioxin is just one representative of a large class of compounds that pose no less danger. Remove one oxygen atom from a molecule and an almost equally toxic substance is formed.
tetrachlorodibenzofuran. Removing both oxygen atoms will only partially reduce the danger. The number and position of chlorine atoms in the benzene ring does not necessarily have to coincide with those for 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin:
Chlorine atoms can be completely or partially replaced by bromine:
It is not easy to calculate how many highly toxic compounds can be produced using such simple rearrangements of atoms. At the moment, thousands of dioxin representatives are known and their number continues to grow.
Thus, dioxins should not mean any specific substance, but several dozen families, including tricyclic oxygen-containing xenobiotics, as well as a family of biphenyls that do not contain oxygen atoms. These are all 75 polychlorinated dibenzodioxins, 135 polychlorinated dibenzofurans, 210 substances from the organobromine families and several thousand mixed chlorobromine-containing substances. We must not forget about isomerism. The classic dioxin with which we started is only one (and the most toxic) of 22 possible isomers of Cl 4 -dibenzo-para-dioxins.
The dioxin molecule has the shape of a rectangle with dimensions of 3x10 Å. This allows it to surprisingly accurately fit into the receptors of living organisms. Dioxin is one of the most insidious poisons known to mankind. Unlike ordinary poisons, the toxicity of which is associated with the suppression of certain body functions, dioxin and similar xenobiotics affect the body due to the ability to greatly increase (induce) the activity of a number of oxidative iron-containing enzymes (monooxygenases), which leads to disruption of the metabolism of many vital substances and suppression of the functions of a number of body systems.
Dioxin is dangerous for two reasons. Firstly, being the most powerful synthetic poison, it is highly stable, persists in the environment for a long time, is effectively transported through food chains and thus affects living organisms for a long time. Secondly, even in quantities that are relatively harmless to the body, dioxin greatly increases the activity of highly specific liver monooxygenases, which convert many substances of synthetic and natural origin into poisons dangerous to the body. Therefore, even small amounts of dioxin create a danger of damage to living organisms by usually harmless xenobiotics available in nature.
Where did dioxin even come from? Mass production chlorophenols and herbicides began in the thirties and forties in the USA and Germany.
But the first mention of dioxins dates back to 1957. Why? Because they are an unplanned product, a by-product. It is difficult to name just one discoverer of dioxins. Their discovery was led by many years of experience of human tragedies and comparisons by analogy. If dioxins weren't so harmful, maybe they would never have been discovered.
In the early 30s, the Dow Chemical company (USA) developed a method for producing polychlorophenols from polychlorobenzenes by alkaline hydrolysis at high temperature under pressure and showed that these drugs, called daucides, are effective means for wood conservation.
Already in 1936, there were reports of mass illnesses among workers. Mississippi engaged in timber conservation with these agents. Most of them suffered from severe skin disease. In 1937, cases of similar diseases were described among workers at a plant in Midland (Michigan, USA) involved in the production of daucides. An investigation into the causes of damage in these and many similar cases led to the conclusion that the chloracnogenic factor is present only in technical daucides, and pure polychlorophenols do not have a similar effect.
The expansion of the scale of damage caused by polychlorophenols was subsequently due to their use for military purposes. During the Second World War, the first herbicides with hormone-like action based on 2,4-dichloro- and 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acids (2,4-D and 2,4,5-T) were obtained in the USA. These drugs were developed to kill Japanese vegetation and were adopted by the US Army shortly after the war. At the same time, these acids, their salts and esters began to be used for chemical weeding in cereal crops, and mixtures of 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T esters - for the destruction of unwanted tree and shrub vegetation. This allowed the US military-industrial circles to create large-scale production of 2,4-dichloro-, 2,4,5-trichlorophenols, and on their basis the acids 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T.
The study of the properties of 2,4-D and its derivatives was a powerful impetus for the development modern chemistry herbicides. Events related to the expansion of the scale of production and use of 2,4,5-T developed in a completely different way.
In 1949, it became known about a mass disease, manifested in the form of many non-healing boils covering the skin, which took place after an explosion at the Nitro plant in the US state of Virginia. The plant produced 2,4,5-trichlorophenol. Two hundred people were injured then superfluous person, and about half of them showed symptoms of some new disease. However, we immediately remembered that this disease has been known since the end of the last century and even has a name - chloracne (at that time German doctors considered it purely skin and saw the cause solely in the action of chlorine). 32 people died at the same time. More than half of the survivors were unable to recover until recent years.
In the 50s, reports appeared of frequent injuries from technical 2,4,5-T and trichlorophenol. 1953 An accident at a BASF plant in Germany. And again, 55 victims had chloracne. 1956 Explosion at the Rone Poulenc plant in France. And again the same strange disease, the causative agent of which is unknown, but now at least everyone understands that it is definitely not chlorine...
Meanwhile, at that time in Germany and the USA several groups of scientists were working on the problem of chloracne. G. Hoffmann (Germany) highlighted in pure form chloracnogenic factor of technical trichlorophenol, studied its properties, physiological activity and attributed to it the structure of tetrachlorodibenzofuran. The synthesized sample of this compound actually had the same effect on animals as technical trichlorophenol.
At the same time, K. Schulz (Germany), a specialist in the field of skin diseases, drew attention to the fact that the symptoms of damage to his client, working with chlorinated dibenzo-para-dioxins, were identical to the symptoms of damage caused by technical trichlorophenol. His studies showed that the chloracnogenic factor of technical trichlorophenol is indeed 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-para-dioxin (dioxin) - an inevitable by-product of the alkaline processing of symmetric tetrachlorobenzene. Later, K. Schultz’s information was confirmed in the works of other scientists.
The high toxicity of dioxin was established in 1957 in the USA. This happened after an accident with the American chemist J. Dietrich, who, while synthesizing dioxin and its analogues, received a severe injury reminiscent of technical trichlorophenol and was hospitalized for a long time. This fact, like many other incidents in the production of trichlorophenol, was hidden from the public, and the halogenated dibenzo-p-dioxins synthesized by the American chemist were seized for study by the military department.
Further discoveries follow in increasing order. It is possible, for example, to establish that the cause of the Asian diseases Yusho and Yu-Cheng (they are named in memory of Japanese and Taiwanese villages, respectively, whose residents suffered from severe poisoning in the 60-70s) was a fellow classic dioxin - tetrachlorodibenzofuran, the formula of which is already pictured above. The total number of victims in these two disasters was approximately four thousand people.
By this time, despite its high toxicity, 2,4,5-trichlorophenol had penetrated into many areas of production. Its sodium and zinc salts, as well as the processed product - hexachlorophene, have become widely used as biocidal preparations in technology, agriculture, textile and paper industries, medicine, etc. On the basis of this phenol, insecticides, preparations for veterinary needs, and technical liquids for various purposes were prepared. However, 2,4,5-trichlorophenol has found its most widespread use in the production of 2,4,5-T and other herbicides intended not only for peaceful but also for military purposes. As a result, by 1960, the production of trichlorophenol had reached an impressive level - many thousands of tons per year.
 Biocidal and herbicide preparations obtained from trichlorophenol. |
 Scheme of dioxin formation during alkaline hydrolysis of tetrachlorobenzene. This reaction is usually carried out in a solution of methanol (CH 3 OH) under pressure at temperatures above 165°C. The resulting sodium trichlorophenolate is always partially converted into predioxin and then into dioxin. As the temperature rises to 210°C, the rate of this side reaction increases sharply, and under more severe conditions, dioxin becomes the main product of the reaction. In this case, the process is uncontrollable and production conditions ends with an explosion. |
But dioxin is the cause of much more serious diseases than chloracne. This began to be understood only after the American-Vietnamese war. During the period from 1961 to 1970, the American army, under the pretext of fighting guerrillas, sprayed 57 thousand tons of Agent Orange defoliant on the territory of South Vietnam to destroy vegetation. Such operations had to be stopped due to numerous reports of cancer and other diseases of participants in the events, including US and Australian military personnel, and the birth of deformed children.
It is interesting that this drug itself with such beautiful name(see, beauty is deceptive again) cannot cause anything like this. But due to the imperfections of its production, the mentioned 57 thousand tons of defoliant contained 170 kg (0.0003 percent!) of dioxin, which caused so much trouble.
US Army herbicide formulations containing dioxin
| Recipe | Components | |
 |
 |
|
| Orange I | R=C 4 H 9 * | R=C 4 H 9 |
| Orange II | R=C 4 H 9 | R=C 8 H 17 |
| Purple | R=C 4 H 9 | R=C 4 H 9 i-C 4 H 9 |
| Pink | R=C 4 H 9 | R=C 4 H 9 |
| Green | --- | R=C 4 H 9 |
| Dinoxol | R=CH 2 CH 2 OC 4 H 9 | R=CH 2 CH 2 OC 4 H 9 |
| Trinoxol | --- | R=CH 2 CH 2 OC 4 H 9 |
*Percentage of this component in the recipe
For comparison, we note that the mass poisoning in the Italian city of Seveso was caused by just a few kilograms of dioxin. When eliminating the consequences of this disaster, the surface layer of soil had to be removed from a large area.
Meanwhile, in our press, both scientific and mass, until 1985, not a single publication was devoted to dioxins. In the five-volume “Concise Chemical Encyclopedia” (1961), as well as in the “Chemical Encyclopedic Dictionary” published much later, there is not even such a word! Moreover, leafing through old files of sanitary magazines and collections, you can find reports that in Ufa from 1964 to 1970 there was a workshop for the production of the very herbicide that the Americans call “Agent Orange”. And 128 people out of 165 service personnel fell ill with an unknown disease, the symptoms of which coincided with chloracne. These data (without geographic reference) migrated to the foreign press. And in a strange (or not very strange) way they disappeared from the domestic press. By the way, that workshop was reconstructed and then closed. But there is silence about what happened to the production waste. You will say: in those days it never happened otherwise. But are we repeating the mistakes of the past today? Remember the recent events in Ufa. Phenols got into chlorinated water - and this created excellent conditions for the formation of dioxins. In addition, they could accompany phenols due to the imperfection of the production technology of the latter.
WHAT IS KNOWN ABOUT THE PROPERTIES OF DIOXIN
Structure, physical and chemical properties. The dioxin molecule is flat and has high symmetry. The distribution of electron density in it is such that the maximum is in the zone of oxygen and chlorine atoms, and the minimum is in the centers of benzene rings. These structural features and electronic state determine the observed extreme properties of the dioxin molecule.Dioxin is a crystalline substance with a high melting point (305°C) and very low volatility, poorly soluble in water (2x10 -8% at 25°C) and better in organic solvents. It is characterized by high thermal stability: its decomposition is observed only when heated above 750°C, and is effective at 1000°C.
Dioxin is a chemically inert substance. It does not decompose by acids and alkalis even when boiled. It enters into the chlorination and sulfonation reactions characteristic of aromatic compounds only under very harsh conditions and in the presence of catalysts. The replacement of chlorine atoms of the dioxin molecule with other atoms or groups of atoms is carried out only under the conditions of free radical reactions. Some of these transformations, such as interaction with sodium naphthalene and reductive dechlorination under ultraviolet irradiation, are used to destroy large quantities dioxin. When oxidized under anhydrous conditions, dioxin easily gives up one electron and turns into a stable radical cation, which, however, is easily reduced by water into dioxin, releasing a very active radical cation HO +. A characteristic feature of dioxin is its ability to form strong complexes with many natural and synthetic polycyclic compounds.
Toxic properties. Dioxin is a total poison, since even in relatively small doses (concentrations) it affects almost all forms of living matter - from bacteria to warm-blooded animals. The toxicity of dioxin in the case of simple organisms is apparently due to disruption of the functions of metalloenzymes with which it forms strong complexes. Dioxin damage is much more difficult higher organisms, especially warm-blooded ones. In the body of warm-blooded animals, dioxin initially enters the adipose tissue, and then is redistributed, accumulating mainly in the liver, then in the thymus and other organs. Its destruction in the body is insignificant: it is excreted mainly unchanged, in the form of complexes of an as yet unknown nature. The half-life ranges from several tens of days (mouse) to a year or more (primates) and usually increases with slow intake. With increased retention in the body and selective accumulation in the liver, the sensitivity of individuals to dioxin increases.
In case of acute poisoning of animals, signs of the general toxic effect of dioxin are observed: loss of appetite, physical and sexual weakness, chronic fatigue, depression and catastrophic weight loss. It leads to death after a few days or even after several tens of days, depending on the dose of poison and the speed of its entry into the body.
In non-lethal doses, dioxin causes severe specific diseases. In highly sensitive individuals, a skin disease initially appears - chloracne (damage to the sebaceous glands, accompanied by dermatitis and the formation of long-term non-healing ulcers), and in people, chloracne can appear again and again even many years after treatment. More severe damage by dioxin leads to disruption of the metabolism of porphyrins - important precursors of hemoglobin and prosthetic groups of iron-containing enzymes (cytochromes). Porphyria, as this disease is called, manifests itself in increased photosensitivity of the skin: it becomes fragile and becomes covered with numerous microbubbles. With chronic dioxin poisoning, various diseases associated with damage to the liver, immune systems and central nervous system also develop. nervous system.
All these diseases manifest themselves against the background of a sharp activation by dioxin (tens and hundreds of times) of an important iron-containing enzyme - cytochrome P-448. This enzyme is especially strongly activated in the placenta and in the fetus, and therefore dioxin, even in insignificant quantities, suppresses viability, disrupts the processes of formation and development of a new organism, in other words, has an embryotoxic and teratogenic effect. In negligible concentrations, dioxin causes genetic changes in the cells of affected individuals and increases the incidence of tumors, i.e. has mutagenic and carcinogenic effects.
Toxicity of dioxin after single administration
| View | LD * 50, mg/kg |
| Guinea pig | 0,001 |
| Rat | 0,050 |
| Mouse | 0,112 |
| Cat | 0,115 |
| Dog | 0,3 |
| Chickens | 0,5 |
| Chicken embryo | 0,0005 |
| Guppy | 0.1 ppm** |
| Echerichia coli | 2-4 ppm** |
| Salmonella tiphimurium | 2-3 ppm** |
*LD 50 is a designation adopted in toxicology for a dose that causes 50% lethal outcome.
**Lethal concentration.
Behavior in the environment. In the biosphere, dioxin is quickly absorbed by plants, sorbed by soil and various materials, where it practically does not change under the influence of physical, chemical and biological environmental factors. Due to its ability to form complexes, it binds firmly to soil organic matter and is contained in the remains of dead soil microorganisms and dead parts of plants. The half-life of dioxin in nature exceeds 10 years. Thus, various environmental objects are reliable repositories of this poison.
The further behavior of dioxin in the environment is determined by the properties of the objects with which it binds. Its vertical and horizontal migrations in soils are possible only for a number of tropical regions, where water-soluble organic substances predominate in the soils. In other types of soils containing water-insoluble organic matter, it binds firmly to upper layers and gradually accumulates in the remains of dead organisms.
Dioxin is removed from soils mainly mechanically. Low-density complexes of dioxin with organic substances, as well as the remains of dead organisms containing it, are blown from the soil surface by the wind, washed away by rain streams and ultimately rush into lowlands and water areas, creating new foci of infection (places where rainwater accumulates, lakes, river bottom sediments, canals, coastal zones of seas and oceans).
Recent soil tests in some areas of South Vietnam indicate relatively low levels of dioxin in the surface layers and concentrations of up to 30 parts per trillion (30 ppt) in deeper soils. This indicates that physical and mechanical transport in tropical conditions contributes to the effective dispersal of the poison in nature. However, this is not the only route of dioxin migration in the biosphere. There is also the transfer of this poison through the food chain, which contributes to its constant accumulation in areas of maximum consumption of food products contaminated with it, i.e. concentration in densely populated areas.
According to the Vietnamese scientist and surgeon Professor Ton That Tung, the effective biotransfer of dioxin in nature contributes to its constant accumulation in warm-blooded animals, and the degree of accumulation of dioxin in warm-blooded animals increases with increasing toxic content in the environment. This conclusion was the result of many years of studying the consequences of the past chemical war on large contingents of the ten million population of Vietnam who lived and (or) are living in areas where so-called “harmless to humans and the environment” herbicides were used.
Compiled by V.N. Viter.
Materials from the journals Nature, Chemistry and Life, as well as Wikipedia were used.
Dioxin is a synthetic poison. It is formed at temperatures from 250 to 800°C as a by-product of many technological processes using chlorine and carbon. The largest amounts of dioxins are emitted by metallurgical and paper mills, many chemical plants, pesticide factories and all waste incinerators.
It is dangerous not only for its high toxicity, but also for its ability to persist in the environment for an extremely long time, to be effectively transported through food chains and thereby have a long-term effect on living organisms. In addition, even in relatively harmless quantities, dioxin greatly increases the activity of specific liver enzymes that decompose certain substances of synthetic and natural origin; at the same time, they are released as a by-product of decomposition dangerous poisons. At low concentrations, the body has time to remove them without harm to itself. But even small doses of dioxin dramatically increase the release of toxic substances. This can lead to poisoning by relatively harmless compounds that are always present in small concentrations in food, water and air - pesticides, household chemicals and even medications.
Data from recent years have shown that the main danger of dioxins lies not so much in acute toxicity, but in the cumulative effects and long-term consequences of chronic poisoning with small doses.
They accumulate in the tissues (mainly fat) of living organisms, accumulating and rising up the food chain. At the very top of this chain is man, and about 90% of dioxins come to him through animal food. Once dioxin enters the human body, it remains there forever and begins its long-term harmful effects.
The reason for the toxicity of dioxins lies in the ability of these substances to precisely fit into the receptors of living organisms and suppress or alter their vital functions.
About 90–95% of dioxins enter the human body through consumption of contaminated food (mainly animal) and water through gastrointestinal tract, the remaining 5–10% - with air and dust through the lungs and skin. Once in the body, these substances circulate in the blood and are deposited in adipose tissue and lipids without excluding all cells of the body.
Dioxins They are poorly soluble in water and slightly better in organic solvents, so these substances are extremely chemically stable compounds. Dioxins practically do not decompose in the environment for tens or even hundreds of years, remaining unchanged under the influence of physical, chemical and biological environmental factors.
A 1998 report from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency shows that American adults who only consume dioxins in their diet, mainly meat, fish and dairy products, already carry an average dose of dioxin close to the critical (disease-causing) dose. It is estimated at 13 nanograms of dioxins per kilogram of body weight (ng/kg; nanogram is a billionth of a gram; ng/kg is one part by weight per trillion). It would seem that 13 ng/kg is a completely minuscule value, and in absolute terms it is so. However, compared with the amounts that cause serious disturbances in the body, 13 ng/kg is a serious threat to health. At the same time, 5% of Americans (2.5 million people) carry a dioxin load twice the average.
In the body of warm-blooded animals, dioxins initially enter the adipose tissue, and then are redistributed, accumulating mainly in the liver, less in the thymus (endocrine gland) and other organs, and are excreted with great difficulty.
The effect of dioxins on humans is due to their influence on the receptors of cells responsible for the functioning of hormonal systems. In this case, endocrine and hormonal disorders arise, the content of sex hormones, thyroid and pancreatic hormones changes, which increases the risk of developing diabetes mellitus, the processes of puberty and fetal development are disrupted. Children are lagging behind in development, their education is hampered, and young people develop diseases characteristic of old age. In general, the likelihood of infertility, spontaneous abortion, congenital defects and other anomalies increases. The immune response also changes, which means the body’s susceptibility to infections increases, and the frequency of allergic reactions and cancer increases.
In acute dioxin poisoning, loss of appetite, weakness, chronic fatigue, depression, and catastrophic weight loss are observed. Death can occur within a few days or even several tens of days, depending on the dose of poison and the speed of its entry into the body. True, all this occurs at a dioxin load of 96 to 3000 ng/kg - 7 times higher than that of the average US resident. A decrease in the level of testosterone and other sex hormones was found in the blood of male workers exposed to dioxin. What is especially alarming is that these people had a dioxin load that was only 1.3 times the average.
Consequences of dioxin entering the body. Molecular mechanism of dioxin action. Easily soluble in fats, dioxin easily penetrates cells through the cytoplasmic membrane. There it accumulates in lipids or binds to various molecular structures of the cell. The resulting complexes are introduced into DNA chains, thereby activating a whole cascade of reactions leading to metabolic disorders, the functioning of the nervous system, causing hormonal disorders, changes in the skin, and obesity. The most severe consequences are caused by activation of the cytochrome P4501A1 gene, an enzyme that indirectly contributes to genetic mutations of cells and the development of cancer. Due to the high stability of the dioxin molecule, the process of gene activation can continue for a very long time, causing irreparable harm to the body.
Dioxin enters the body primarily through food. We get 95–97% of dioxin from meat, fish, eggs and dairy products. Dioxin accumulates especially strongly in fish. This is due to the fact that TCDD is a hydrophobic substance and is “afraid” of water. Once in the aquatic environment, dioxin strives to leave it in every possible way - for example, penetrating the organisms of the inhabitants of water bodies. As a result, the dioxin content in fish can be hundreds of thousands of times higher than its content in the environment. Residents of Sweden and Finland receive 63% of dioxins and 42% of furans through fish products.
Without having a genotoxic effect, dioxins do not directly affect the genetic material of organism cells. However, they are especially effective in affecting the gene pool of aerobic populations, since it is they who destroy the general mechanism of protecting the gene pool from environmental influences. Environmental conditions can dramatically increase mutagenic, embryotoxic and teratogenic effects.
Another effect of the genetic plan is that dioxins destroy the mechanism of adaptation of aerobic organisms to external environment. As a result, their sensitivity to various types of stress and to numerous chemicals, which are constant companions of organisms in modern civilization. The latter aspect is practically two-way: dioxin synergists enhance their own toxic effect, and dioxins, in turn, provoke the toxicity of a number of non-toxic substances. The social consequence of this and previous features of dioxin intoxication is a consistent and uncontrollable deterioration in the genetic health of the affected populations.
The toxic effect of dioxins is characterized by a long period of latent action. In addition, the signs of dioxin intoxication are very diverse and are largely determined, at first glance, by their totality, as well as by the body’s burdened predisposition to a particular disease.
Most likely, no one will be able to completely avoid contact with dioxins. The general pollution of the environment and food does not leave anyone such a chance. However, it is still possible to reduce the intake of toxic substances into the body. By observing a certain “hygiene” there is hope to obtain smaller doses of dioxin.
First of all, you should try to reduce the risk of dioxin entering the body. To do this you need to conduct healthy image life, eat organic, predominantly plant-based (plants accumulate less dioxins than animals and fish), environmentally friendly food - grown on clean soils. Fatty fish varieties are especially dangerous; they often contain large amounts of toxic compounds in their fat. This is also due to anthropogenic pollution, and therefore even expensive red fish may contain dioxins.
You can completely switch predominantly to plant foods - they contain much less dioxins, because there are almost no fats in plants. Other methods of cooking meat - frying, baking in the oven - do not decompose dioxin; steamers will not help with this either. microwaves, pressure cookers.
For the same reason, you should not buy euro products coming to the Russian market, where fat, eggs and even milk can be added - mayonnaise, pasta, bouillon cubes, ready-made soups, cakes, ice cream, etc.
You should only drink purified water, and never drink boiled chlorinated water (dioxins can be formed when chlorinated water boils). When boiling chlorinated water, organic compounds react with chlorine (in megacities in tap water detect more than 240 compounds) and forms organochlorine compounds, such as trichloromethane and dioxin (when phenol gets into water, it forms dioxin). Many countries have already abandoned water disinfection by chlorination.
You can purify water with filters for water purification, but you need to change the cartridges in it often so that instead of purified water you do not get a mass of bacteria from a contaminated filter. Today there is such modern material- activated carbon fibers, superior in cleaning quality to activated carbon. Fibers are able to absorb heavy metal ions and suppress the activity of bacteria.
Shungite is also no worse activated carbon has the ability to purify water from many organic substances - including heavy metals
Thanks to the specially organized crystal lattice, which is based on carbon, shungite has the ability to purify water and saturate it with a specific mineral composition, giving it unique healing qualities.
Dioxin is a toxic substance with strong immunosuppressant, mutagenic, carcinogenic and embryotoxic effects. There is a risk of infection even when carrying out ordinary household processes - boiling tap water, washing clothes and eating fatty meat dishes.
When the poison enters the human body with water, food or air, it causes serious disturbances in metabolic processes, cell division, and the functioning of the immune and endocrine systems. It stimulates the development of malignant tumors, has a detrimental effect on the reproductive system in men and women, affects embryos and causes deformities and underdevelopment of newborns.
What is dioxin?
Dioxins are a group of complex compounds belonging to chloride derivatives of organic chemistry. It is an ecotoxicant – a substance formed exclusively as a result of human activity and unnatural for the environment. It belongs to the group of xenobiotics and is a synthetic cumulative poison - it accumulates in the fat cells of the body and is excreted very slowly. Half-life is from 7 to 11 years.
The accumulation of poison in the body has an extremely negative effect on health and leads to severe diseases - cancer, embryo mutations, chloracne, liver damage, and “chemical AIDS.”
The dose of poison that causes death is thousands of times less than the lethal dose of some toxic substances used in combat conditions - for example, sarin, soman, tabun.
Formation and mechanism of toxic action
Dioxins are released as a result of the interaction of chloride compounds with organic compounds. high temperatures. Most often, this happens in industry - poisons appear in waste and wastewater enterprises of the metallurgical, pulp and paper, chemical industries.
A well-known example of a global release of dioxins was the man-made disaster in 1976 in the Italian city of Seveso, at one of whose chemical plants a cloud of poison was released into the environment. As a result, for many years after the disaster, children with diseases and mutations were born in nearby cities, and the number of pathologies and mortality increased significantly.
Chlorophenol pesticides are often used to treat plants against pests and also for defoliation. If a forest treated with such herbicides catches fire, the concentration of dioxins in the atmosphere will increase significantly. An example is the defoliation of forests during the Vietnam War, when an entire generation of Vietnamese suffered after the use of a synthetic mixture of Agent Orange.
In addition, there are still many illegal landfills around the world. When man-made waste is burned, large amounts of toxic substances are released into the air.
Do dioxins form when water boils?
When pure natural water is boiled, the amount of toxic substances formed is negligible. It is much higher when using tap water, the chlorine content of which is quite high. The formation of dioxins when boiling it leads to poor health, weakness, and decreased immunity.
Routes of entry into the body
Dioxin enters the human body through air, water and food, with virtually no barriers. When carrying a child, it passes through the placental fluid. A significant excess of the level of a dangerous compound is detected in the air of cities and towns surrounding industrial enterprises and located on major highways. The best environment for the sedimentation of this substance is fat cells.
The most common food sources of the toxin are:
- fatty meat (pork, lamb, etc.);
- chicken eggs;
- fatty fish (herring, catfish, etc.);
- milk and dairy products;
- leafy plants.
In addition, when washing, chlorine-containing products come into contact with organic compounds on clothes, resulting in the formation of poisons.
The substance has no smell or taste, it is transparent, so it is very difficult to understand that poisoning has occurred.
Signs of intoxication
IN Everyday life, in the absence of man-made disasters, dioxins accumulate in human body long years. In case of poisoning with them, which is chronic in nature, the following are observed:
- The appearance of chloracne - specific inflammation of the skin.
- Disruption of the endocrine and nervous systems.
- Damage to tissues and membranes of internal organs.
With a significant amount of a toxic substance, symptoms of acute intoxication appear:
- During the first 2-4 days - weakness, dizziness and mild nausea.
- Redness and itching of the skin, massive scarring, chloracne, age spots on the eyelids and behind the ears.
- Constant headache, blurred vision.
- Decreased appetite and, as a result, loss of up to a third of body weight.
- Severe irritability, drowsiness.
- Cough, shortness of breath, sputum production.
- Slowing down the regenerative processes of the skin: the wounds that appear on the skin practically do not heal.
- Severe swelling of the face.
If we consider each of the symptoms separately, it is easy to confuse dioxin poisoning with other diseases. To establish the correct clinical picture, it is necessary to pay attention to all the signs together.
Medical assistance for poisoning
Important! There is no specific antidote to dioxins.
One of the features of dioxin poisoning is that the symptoms are not unique. At home, it is difficult to determine that these substances are the cause of poor health. Therefore, first of all, it is necessary to immediately take the victim to the hospital for tests.
Consequences of dioxin exposure on the body
The toxic substance not only independently interferes with normal work cells, damaging their enzymes, but also enhances the effect of other toxins - nitrates, chlorophenols, and mercury. The body becomes more susceptible to the effects of ionizing radiation.
The main consequences of intoxication:
- Decreased immunity due to impaired cell division, up to “chemical AIDS.”
- Development of malignant tumors.
- Malfunctions of the endocrine system, metabolic disorders.
- Increased risk of infertility or the appearance of children with serious developmental problems and even mutations.
Prevention of poisoning
The appearance of dioxins is associated with widespread environmental pollution. Particularly dangerous are mass burnings of plastics and water pollution from industrial waste. It is impossible to avoid contact with poisons, but you can reduce the risk of them entering the body.
Preventive measures:
- It is advisable to choose products of plant and animal origin from the assortment of farm enterprises located in ecologically clean areas.
- Refuse to purchase imported food products due to the large amount of nitrates and preservatives.
- Reduce consumption of fatty foods (pork, herring, etc.).
- Do not use chlorinated water for drinking at home.
- Avoid choosing a place of residence near plants or factories, as well as near household waste sites.
