For the first time, the levels of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) were characterized in the tissues of wild small mammals living in contaminated sites near a municipal solid waste landfill (Moscow, Russia). The Ural field mice Sylvaemus uralensis, the bank voles Clethrionomys glareolus, and the common shrews Sorex araneus were trapped at 1- and 5-km distances from the landfield "Salariyevo." High-resolution chromatography-mass spectrometry was used to measure the levels of 17 PCDD/Fs congeners in the animal organisms and natural objects (soils, bottom sediments). The values of the total toxic equivalencies (WHO-TEQ) for animals were many times higher than those for soils and bottom sediments. The octo-substituted congeners dominated in the samples from the habitat, whereas the highly toxic 2,3,7,8-substituted ones - in the mammalian tissues. The levels of WHO-TEQ were comparable in the soil samples collected at 1- and 5-km distances from the dump body. The levels of WHO-TEQ in tissues of mammals caught 1 km from the dump were much higher than those of the distant territory inhabitants. The maximum WHO-TEQ levels were found in the shrews, and this has been considered in terms of nutrition characteristics. The data obtained will be used to assess the risks of chronic exposure to low doses of PCDD/Fs contaminating the environment near landfills.

No abstract

For the first time dioxins (including 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin, TCDD) were revealed by high resolution chromatography-mass spectrometry in tissues of animals (rodents and fish) and abiotic samples (soil, sediment, snow) from the biotopes near the landfill with solid wastes ("Salariyevo", New Moscow). Profiles of congeners in soil samples, snow and sediment were well comparable. Parameters of "toxic equivalency quantity" (WHO-TEQ98) greatly exceeded the levels registered in Vietnam dioxin-contaminated areas (territories of ecocide) known to produce a so-called dioxin pathology among population. As to the MPC for soil the observed levels near landfill were almost 38 times higher than the standards set in Russia. The consequences of the pollutants influence on the state of animals reflected the manifestations of toxic effects on the whole organism and the chromosome apparatus, in correlations with the parameters of dioxins (WHO-TEQ98) and/or TCDD in their tissues and objects in their natural habitat. Changes of cytogenetic status of fish and rodents, morphometric parameters of fish age dynamics, the emergence of individuals with abnormal head structure - correspond to pathological processes and conditions that determine the pathogenesis of human dioxin pathology. Analysis of the data obtained illustrates the possibility of creating a universal methodical approach for screening the hazards of dioxins' low dozes for human health.

No abstract

No abstract