2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzodioxin (TCDD) was formed in an uncontrolled decomposition reaction at BASF Aktiengesellschaft on 17 November 1953. This report presents the findings of a 34-year mortality follow-up study of 247 workers who were partly heavily exposed; 78 thereof had died. We divided these employees into three cohorts based on the amount and reliability of the exposure information. The mortality was compared with the national mortality rates in the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) and is presented in terms of standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) together with 90% confidence intervals (CI) for different periods of time since the first exposure. In general, the overall mortality of these workers was similar to the rates of the national population. The SMR for all malignant neoplasms based on 23 deaths was 117 (90% CI: 80, 166), suggesting no overall increase in cancer among those employees. When workers with chloracne were examined separately, the SMR for all malignant neoplasms was not significantly elevated overall (SMR 139; 87, 211), but it was for the time period 20 or more years after the first exposure (SMR 201; 122, 315). Results for 22 causes of death as well as additional information on the type of exposure and skin findings are presented and discussed in relation to the current literature. In general, our results do not appear to support a strong association between cancer mortality and TCDD, but they do suggest that some hazard may have been produced.

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Little is known about the movements and behavior of neonate eastern box turtles (Terrapene carolina carolina). We investigated spatial ecology of neonate eastern box turtles at 4 upland openings in the Manistee National Forest, Michigan, USA, 2012–2016. We protected nests and used radio‐telemetry to document dispersal from nests, land cover types used for overwintering, and residency time of neonates in natal openings. We used binomial logistic regression to model probabilities of overwintering in natal openings versus adjacent forest and edge. We protected 64 nests, radio‐fitted 64 neonates over 4 cohort years, tracked 46 neonates from nest emergence to their overwintering sites, and tracked 28 neonates for portions of their second activity season. Dispersal (straight‐line distance from nest to overwintering site) was limited in the first activity season (n = 46 neonates, truex¯ = 19.9 ± 2.4 m [SE], range = 1.9–83.2 m) and 24 overwintered in natal openings, 4 overwintered in the forest edge, and 18 overwintered in forest. Our best logistic model included the predictor variables distance from nest to nearest forest edge and day of nest emergence. Probability of overwintering within a natal opening was greater for neonates from nests located farther from the forest edge and for neonates emerging from nests later in the year. By 1 June of their second activity season, all tracked turtles were still present in, or within 50 m, of their natal opening, but all neonates had dispersed into surrounding forest or wetlands by 1 July. Managers should be aware that neonates reside in or very near their natal openings for several months after nest emergence. When burning or otherwise intensively managing open canopy box turtle nesting areas, relaxing the interval (yr) between treatments and excluding forest edge and adjacent forest should allow neonates time to disperse, decreasing risk of mortality. © 2018 The Wildlife Society.