Analyses of general population human blood from various geographical locations for polychlorinated dibenzodioxins (PCDD) and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDF) were performed to compare levels of human and environmental contamination at the present time. Pooled or individual samples of blood from adults (usually over the age of 40) were collected in a number of selected locations including St. Petersburg, in western Russia; Baikalsk in Russia's eastern Siberia; and Guam, a South Pacific island. These are compared to previous data from West Germany. America and various locations in Vietnam. Seven hundred and fifty-five blood specimens were collected, 68 from Russia, 10 from Guam, 475 from Vietnam, 102 from Germany and 100 from the USA. Individual dioxin analyses were performed for samples from Guam and Germany; pooled blood was analyzed from the other locations. The German data includes mean, standard deviation, median, and range for each congener; mean values are also presented for Guam and Vietnam.

Food is considered to be the main source of dioxins (PCDDs) and dibenzofurans (PCDFs) for human intake, but there are relatively few publications reporting the levels of dioxins and furans in food samples.(1–4) Food samples from western to eastern Russia were collected during three recent trips by one of us (AS), and tested for dioxins and dibenzofurans to provide some indication of environmental contamination. The results show that in specific food samples there are more dioxins present than dibenzofurans, but in fish samples the opposite is true. We compare the levels found in Russian food with levels found in samples from other countries, on both wet weight and lipid basis. These Russian samples show ranges similar to but slightly lower than those seen in other industrial countries.