Can I find out how much Dioxin is in my body?!
Question: I've read that Dioxin could be the cause of my endometriosis. I have learned that Dioxin is created from burning trash, which my family used to do when I was young and living in the country. I'd like to know if it's possible to find out if I have Dioxin in my body and at what levels. Then I'd like to find out about possible treatments.
Answers: I've read that Dioxin could be the cause of my endometriosis. I have learned that Dioxin is created from burning trash, which my family used to do when I was young and living in the country. I'd like to know if it's possible to find out if I have Dioxin in my body and at what levels. Then I'd like to find out about possible treatments.
Everyone in the United States has some body burden of doixins, as we are being continuously exposed through the environment (i.e., air, soil, food) every day. There is no "safe or acceptable" level of dioxins and furans, but everyone carries a level. Some more than others, given industrial exposure (and i.e., trash burning) and other factors.
There are 2 bioassay tests that will provide an estimate of the total concentration, but they do not provide a measure of individual dioxin congeners. High-resolution gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy analysis will measure
individual congeners as well as the total dioxin concentration.
About 80 milliliters of blood (8 or so tubes) are needed to perform both the tests, which cost between $350 to $1,500 and are not covered by insurance.
This is not something that can be done at the local doc's office, although he or she should be able to take blood samples as required and ship them out to the labs as laid out under the federal guidelines and recommendations for these tests. To compound the problem, however, there are very few labs in the country that can reliably measure dioxins in those samples. You can ask your doctor for more info on this.
While Endometriosis may be due in part to estrogenic toxicants and exposures to furans, dioxins, etc. as outlined in the rhesus studies, the data has not been able to bear this theory out 100% in humans to date. It is more than likely a multi-factorial disease with several components of origin. In other words, it's not your fault and if you had the "right" factors, you would have developed the disease anyway, regardless of your exposure to incineration.
You can learn more about the disease at http://www.endometriosis.org and http://groups.yahoo.com/group/erc if you'd like. Good luck.
You can find out if it is in you body by a blood test ordered by your dr. Once the results are in you can than dicuss treatment with your DR.