Analyses of Laboratory and Field Studies of Reproductive Toxicity in Birds Exposed to Dioxin-like Compounds for Use in Ecological Risk Assessment

This report is intended to assist ecological risk assessors who must characterize risks to birds from exposure to dioxin-like chemicals. Those chemicals include the halogenated dibenzo-dioxins, dibenzo-furans, and biphenyls that have the same mode of action as 2, 3, 7, 8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin. In particular, they include the coplanar PCBs, which account for most of the toxicity of PCB mixtures. They have been shown to severely affect birds in contaminated sites and regions by causing mortality, deformity and inhibited development of embryos and hatchlings.