Correlation between serum and adipose tissue levels of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin in 50 persons from Missouri.

Paired human serum and adipose tissue samples were analyzed from 50 persons for 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (2,3,7,8-TCDD) by high-resolution gas chromatography/high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRGC/HRMS). On a lipid weight basis, the range of values in adipose tissue spanned approximately 2.5 orders of magnitude, from 3.3 to 969 parts per trillion (ppt). After adjusting the adipose tissue 2,3,7,8-TCDD levels for total lipid content and the serum 2,3,7,8-TCDD levels for total lipid content, the mean of the partitioning ratio of adipose tissue to serum 2,3,7,8-TCDD was 1.09 (standard deviation = 0.385, standard error = 0.060). On this same total lipid weight basis, the adipose tissue and serum levels of 2,3,7,8-TCDD were highly correlated, r = 0.98. The high correlation between adipose tissue and serum 2,3,7,8-TCDD levels in this study indicates that serum 2,3,7,8-TCDD is a valid measurement of 2,3,7,8-TCDD body burden concentration.