Toxic equivalency factor

Toxic equivalency factor (TEF) expresses the toxicity of dioxins, furans and PCBs in terms of the most toxic form of dioxin, 2,3,7,8-TCDD. The toxicity of the individual congeners may vary by orders of magnitude.

With the TEFs, the toxicity of a mixture of dioxins and dioxin-like compounds can be expressed in a single number - the toxic equivalency (TEQ). It is a single figure resulting from the product of the concentration and individual TEF values of each congener.