Study of polychlorinated dibenzodioxins and furans from municipal waste incinerator emissions in The Netherlands: analytical methods and levels in the environment and human food chain.

An overview is given of the methods that have been used in the study of polychlorodibenzo-p-dioxins and polychlorodibenzofurans in agriculture and the human food chain in a national survey and monitoring programme, including sampling strategies, sampling in the field and clean-up and analysis in various biological and environmental samples by high-resolution gas chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry. The quality of data was evaluated as a result of internal quality control protocols and participation in interlaboratory comparison studies. Statistical analysis techniques and modelling were applied in order to compare and relate congener profiles in various matrices and to evaluate levels found in field studies for their use for regulatory purposes.