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Toxicant & Disease Database

Toxicant and Disease Database

The CHE Toxicant and Disease Database is a searchable database that summarizes links between chemical contaminants and approximately 180 human diseases or conditions. Diseases and or toxicants can be viewed by utilizing the search options below. In 2025, we have also added links to information available in the Comparative Toxicogenomics Database (CTD). See a full description of the database and our methodology.

See also our compilation of other Databases and Resources.

For questions or comments about the database, please contact us through our Contact form.

Select one of the following

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Select a Toxicant

Search by CAS number

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dioxins / TCDD

Diseases linked to this toxicant Grouped by strength of evidence

Strong Evidence Chloracne Immune suppression Lymphoma (non-Hodgkin's) Soft tissue sarcomas	Good Evidence Acute hepatocellular injury (hepatitis) Adult-onset leukemias Altered sex ratio Coronary artery disease, peripheral vascular disease, atherosclerosis Diabetes - Type II Dyslipidemia, hypercholesterolemia Hodgkin's disease (lymphoma) Hormonal changes (levels of circulating sex hormones - FSH/LH, Inhibin, and/or estrogens, progesterones, androgens, prolactin) Menstrual disorders (abnormal bleeding, short cycles, long cycles, irregular cycles, painful periods) Multiple myeloma Porphyria (toxic) Stomach cancer Thyroid disorders - hypothyroidism	Limited Evidence Abnormal sperm (morphology, motility, and sperm count) Altered time to sexual maturation (accelerated or delayed puberty) Bladder cancer Breast cancer Cataracts Cognitive impairment (includes impaired learning, impaired memory, and decreased attention span) / mental retardation / developmental delay Colorectal cancer Endometriosis Fetotoxicity (miscarriage / spontaneous abortion, stillbirth) Genito-urinary malformations (includes male and female) Hypertension (high blood pressure) Low birth weight / small for gestational age / intra-uterine growth retardation Lung cancer Oral clefts (cleft lip and palate) Peripheral neuropathy Reduced fertility - female (infertility and subfertility) Thyroid cancer

ADDITIONAL DATA: The toxicant–disease relationships shown above were last updated in 2011. The relationships shown here are still valid, but additional research has been conducted since that time. Additional research on this toxicant can be found at this link:

COMPARATIVE TOXICOGENOMICS DATABASE: CURATED RESULTS
dioxins / TCDD

This link will direct your search to an external database, the Comparative Toxicogenomics Database (CTD). This database is different from, and complementary to, our database.

More information about sources and methods

CHE’s Toxicant and Disease Database evaluates existing evidence and categorizes that evidence based on its strength. It is constructed using expert judgment and epidemiological causal inference.
The CTD, in contrast, is a continually updated resource that presents information on a broad range of literature on chemical-disease relationships. It also provides data on genes, biological processes, and phenotypes related to chemicals and diseases. It does not categorize information based on strength of evidence, include an expert judgment process, or draw causal conclusions about toxicant-disease relationships.
The link we have provided on this page goes directly to CTD's curated results, which are a subset of the information available through CTD. Curated results in CTD are those for which studies are available on the toxicant-disease relationship.

References for our 2011 disease list

Akhtar FZ, Garabrant DH, Ketchum NS, Michalek JE. Cancer in US Air Force veterans of the Vietnam War. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. 2004;46(2):123-36.

Bertazzi PA, Consonni D, Bachetti S, Rubagotti M, Baccarelli A, Zocchetti C, Pesatori AC. Health effects of dioxin exposure: a 20-year mortality study. American Journal of Epidemiology. 2001;153(11):1031-1044.

Carpenter DO, Arcaro K, Spink DC. Understanding the human health effects of chemical mixtures. Environmental Health Perspectives. 2002;110(suppl 1):25-42.

Eskenazi B, Mocarelli P et al. Serum dioxin concentrations and endometriosis: a cohort study in Seveso, Italy. Environmental Health Perspectives. 2002 Jul;110(7):629-34.

Eskenazi B, Warner M et al. Serum dioxin concentrations and menstrual cycle characteristics. American Journal of Epidemiology. 2002 Aug 15;156(4):383-92.

Figà-Talamanca I, Traina ME, Urbani E. Occupational exposures to metals, solvents, and pesticides: recent evidence on male reproductive effects and biological markers. Occupational Medicine (Oxford, England). 2001 May;51(3):174-88.

Hardell L, Lindström G, van Bavel B, Fredrikson M, Liljegren G. Some aspects of the etiology of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Environmental Health Perspectives. 1998 Apr;106(Suppl 2):679-681.

Holladay SD. Prenatal immunotoxicant exposure and postnatal autoimmune disease. Environmental Health Perspectives. 1999 Oct;107 Suppl 5:687-91.

International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). Agents Classified by the IARC Monographs. Accessed in 2010.

Klaassen CD, Ed. Casarett and Doull's Toxicology: The Basic Science of Poisons, 6th Edition. New York: McGraw-Hill 2001.

LaDou J, Ed. Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 3rd Edition. New York: Lange Medical/McGraw-Hill Company, 2004.

Leikin JB, Davis A et al. Selected topics related to occupational exposures. Part IV. Occupational liver disease. Disease-a-Month. 2000 Apr;46(4):296-310.

Longnecker MP, Daniels JL. Environmental contaminants as etiologic factors for diabetes. Environmental Health Perspectives. 2001 Dec;109 Suppl 6:871-6.

Massaad C, Entezami F, Massade L, Benahmed M, Olivennes F, Barouki R, Hamamah S. How can chemical compounds alter human fertility? European Journal of Obstettics Gynecology and Reproductive Biology. 2002 Jan 10;100(2):127-37.

Rom WM. Environmental and Occupational Medicine, 3rd Edition. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins Publishers, 1998.