2 15 17 https://www.nal.usda.gov/exhibits/speccoll/files/original/d1b0d18de39391a5faf0e91c9c2016ab.pdf d07ad70f405e036c7793f4e3b88a9250 PDF Text Text Item ID Number 0163 Author Hobson, Lawrence B. ° Corporate Author Report/Article Title Typescript: Fat Assays for Dioxin, December 14,1979 Journal/Book Title Year Month/Day Color Number of Imeges D 3 Doscrlpton Notes Wednesday, June 06, 2001 Page 1631 of 1688 �Fat Assays for Dioxin Dioxin, the toxic contaminant of Agent Orange, is retained in body fat but it has not been known how long it persists in human fat. Veterans who served in Viet Nam were sometimes in contact with dioxin when Agent Orange was used as an herbicide or defoliant. Batches of Agent Orange differed, however, in how much dioxin they contained, some having none at all, and there is no way to determine the content of any particular batch. Aside from a very few armed forces personnel, troops were last exposed to Agent Orange about ten years ago. The fat of the men would contain very little, if any, dioxin so long after exposure even though the body concentrates the substance there. Earlier chemical methods would not be expected to detect the substance but recent advances in assay techniques make it possible to identify and measure very small amounts of dioxinactually a few parts per trillion in the fat. The Veterans Administration has undertaken a study to determine whether dioxin can be detected in Viet Nam veterans and in Viet Nam era veterans who did not serve in that country. To conduct this work, samples of body fat were removed surgically from 20 volunteers who reported exposure to Agent Orange in Viet Nam, from 10 volunteers who had not been there, and 3 Air Force volunteers (identified as "Ranch hand") with recent known exposure to Agent Orange. A highly skilled analytic chemist, without knowing the source of each sample, assayed the fat using a two-part method. The first part tentatively identified and measured the dioxin, specifically TCDD; the second identified the TCDD more certainly and measured it more precisely. The methods used included careful extraction techniques, gaschromatography and mass spectrometry with stable isotope identification of the substance. The method as a whole is delicate, complicated, and still the subject of study in itself. At present, 3 parts per trillion can be considered the lower limit of detection. The accompanying table summarizes the results as they are available today. "Final Results" are those for samples in which both parts of the assay have been completed; "Tentative Results" are for samples in which only the first part of the method has been done to date and they cannot be considered definite as yet. As an additional check on the assay results, duplicate samples of some fat specimens have been sent to an Environmental Protection Agency laboratory that uses a somewhat different technique. No results are yet available from these assays. AP""CC55 �The results to date have shown that the assay used can detect and measure dioxin in amounts as small as a few parts per trillion and that the substance can be found in some persons whose last exposure was ten years or more earlier. There is no evidence that the presence or the absence of dioxin in body fat correlates with symptoms or abnormalities that could be caused by the substance. The study has made available an additional research tool that will be used in further studies of Agent Orange. Until ill effects can be correlated with the presence of dioxin, the assay has limited clinical usefulness. It demonstrates now only that a person has at some time had contact with substances containing dioxin. The contact may have occurred in fairly recent non-military circumstances, however, since dioxin is found in materials other than Agent Orange. UH 1 * 12/U/79 , �Final Results 22 Veterans Viet Nam Service Symptoms 3/12* No Symptoms 3/4** Total 6/16 No Viet Nam Service 1/6 . 1/6 Tentative Results*** 12 Veterans Viet Nam Service No Viet Nam Service Symptoms 3/7 0/1 No Symptoms 1/1 0/3 Total 4/8 0/4 * Numerator is number of veterans whose fat contained more than 2 parts per trillion above base line; denominator is total of veterans in group ** All 3 of "positive" veterans were Ranch hand *** Results of single unvalidated assay AP""C057 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Alvin L. Young Collection on Agent Orange Description An account of the resource The Alvin L. Young Collection on Agent Orange comprises 120 linear feet and spans the late 1800s to 2005; however, the bulk of the coverage is from the 1960s to the 1980s and there are many undated items. The collection was donated to Special Collections of the National Agricultural Library in 1985 by Dr. Alvin L. Young (1942- ). Dr. Young developed the collection as he conducted extensive research on the military defoliant Agent Orange. The collection is in good condition and includes letters, memoranda, books, reports, press releases, journal and newspaper clippings, field logs and notebooks, newsletters, maps, booklets and pamphlets, photographs, memorabilia, and audiotapes of an interview with Dr. Young. For more about this collection, <a href="/exhibits/speccoll/exhibits/show/alvin-l--young-collection-on-a">view the Agent Orange Exhibit.</a> Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Box The box containing the original item. 060 Folder The folder containing the original item. 1630 Series The series number of the original item. Series III Subseries III Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Hobson, Lawrence B. Title A name given to the resource Typescript: Fat Assays for Dioxin, December 14, 1979 Subject The topic of the resource VA Dioxin Fat Assay Study ao_seriesIII https://www.nal.usda.gov/exhibits/speccoll/files/original/ed1dd4f88876fbc75ea517f8966ee17b.pdf 75c437fc70ad4ed5b2e80f4b3581e4de PDF Text Text Item ID Number 01637 Author Hobson, Lawrence B. Corporate Author RBpOrt/ArtiClB TltlB Typescript: TCDD (Dioxin) Content of Human Fat: Progress Report, March 13,1980 Journal/Book Title Year 000 ° Month/Day Color ^ Number of Images 2 Doscrlpton Notes Wednesday, June 06, 2001 Page 1638 of 1688 �TCDD (Dioxin) Content of Human Fat: Progress Report The VA has undertaken a study to determine whether there is a method that can detect minute amounts (in parts per trillion) of 2, 3, 7, 8 tetraclorodibenzo-para-dioxin (TCDD or dioxin) in the body fat of persons claiming exposure to Herbicide Orange and those with no known exposure. Samples of fat were obtained by biopsy from 20 veterans who believe they were exposed to the herbicide in Vietnam and 3 Air Force officers with known close and more recent exposure. Ten veterans who denied exposure had fat biopsies during operations for other disorders. (An eleventh name was entered in the latter group but no biopsy specimen was submitted.) The gas chromatography = high resolution mass spectrometry used at a university laboratory for the sensitive assay proved difficult with the low concentrations encountered but the comparatively large biopsy samples have allowed repeated assays. Duplicate extracts and biopsy samples from 10 veterans were sent to the EPA laboratory which uses a more discriminating gas chromatograph but a lower resolution mass spectrometer. Both laboratories assayed "blinded" samples; both experienced difficulties with the new and delicate techniques. Replication and equipment problems have delayed results. At present, the assay problems have been resolved except for tv1 samples extracted and assayed by EPA scientists. These two gave concentrations that far exceeded any other determinations, results AP"""C085 �thought to be due to contamination. Both laboratories are attempting to resolve the discrepancy. Simultaneously, the exposures to Herbicide Orange reported by the 20 Vietnam veterans are being evaluated to see whether they can be assigned a relative value for the extent of contact. This will allow a comparison of assay results with exposure within the group. The symptoms and signs of the Vietnam veterans have been reviewed and the findings of their clinical chemistries are being tabulated. Correlation of these with the assay results and the exposure evaluations will then be sought. The results to date can be tentatively interpreted as showing that a method does exist to detect minute amounts of TCDD in body fat but it requires samples so large that open biopsy is used and the technique is still too difficult and slow for routine use. The method remains at present a research tool for use with small groups. TCDD has been detected both in individuals claiming exposure to Herbicide Orange and in those with no known exposure. Some in- dividuals in both groups have no TCDD in the fat using methods that can measure as little as one or two parts per trillion. No value to date has been so great as one part per billion even in the two samples with questionably large concentrations. • 2—• 3/13/80 - LBHOBSON AP~"'C'OS'l � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Alvin L. Young Collection on Agent Orange Description An account of the resource The Alvin L. Young Collection on Agent Orange comprises 120 linear feet and spans the late 1800s to 2005; however, the bulk of the coverage is from the 1960s to the 1980s and there are many undated items. The collection was donated to Special Collections of the National Agricultural Library in 1985 by Dr. Alvin L. Young (1942- ). Dr. Young developed the collection as he conducted extensive research on the military defoliant Agent Orange. The collection is in good condition and includes letters, memoranda, books, reports, press releases, journal and newspaper clippings, field logs and notebooks, newsletters, maps, booklets and pamphlets, photographs, memorabilia, and audiotapes of an interview with Dr. Young. For more about this collection, <a href="/exhibits/speccoll/exhibits/show/alvin-l--young-collection-on-a">view the Agent Orange Exhibit.</a> Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Box The box containing the original item. 061 Folder The folder containing the original item. 1637 Series The series number of the original item. Series III Subseries III Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Hobson, Lawrence B. Title A name given to the resource Typescript: TCDD (Dioxin) Content of Human Fat: Progress Report, March 13, 1980 Subject The topic of the resource VA Dioxin Fat Assay Study ao_seriesIII