Reevaluation of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin equivalency factors for dioxin-like polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins, polychlorinated dibenzofurans, and polychlorinated biphenyls for fishes

An expert meeting was organized by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1997 to streamline assessments of risk posed by mixtures of dioxin-like chemicals (DLCs) through development of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (2,3,7,8-TCDD) equivalency factors (TEFs) for mammals, birds, and fishes. No reevaluation has been performed for fish TEFs. Therefore, the objective of the present study was to reevaluate the TEFs for fishes based on an updated database of relative potencies (RePs) for DLCs. Selection criteria consistent with the WHO meeting resulted in 53 RePs across 14 species of fish ultimately being considered. Of these RePs, 70% were not available at the time of the WHO meeting. These RePs were used to develop updated TEFs for fishes based on a similar decision process as used at the WHO meeting. The updated TEF for 16 DLCs was greater than the WHO TEF, but only four differed by more than an order of magnitude. Measured concentrations of DLCs in four environmental samples were used to compare 2,3,7,8-TCDD equivalents (TEQs) calculated using the WHO TEFs relative to the updated TEFs. The TEQs for none of these environmental samples differed by more than an order of magnitude. Therefore, present knowledge supports that the WHO TEFs are suitable potency estimates for fishes. However, the updated TEFs pull from a larger database with a greater breadth of data and as a result offer greater confidence relative to the WHO TEFs. Risk assessors will have different criteria in the selection of TEFs, and the updated TEFs are not meant to immediately replace the formal WHO TEFs; but those who value a larger database and increased confidence in TEQs could consider using the updated TEFs.