Metabolism of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and related dioxin-like compounds.

Recent work on the metabolism of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and related compounds such as polychlorinated dibenzofurans and coplanar polychlorinated biphenyls is reviewed. Most in vivo studies and epidemiological studies on humans have been concerned with rates of elimination of these compounds; in vitro work has shown that a wide variety of metabolites can be found, either in hydroxylated format (typically in feces) or as conjugates (in urine). Metabolism of this group of compounds seems always to represent a detoxification process rather than one of bioactivation.