a b s t r a c tTo date, despite the fact it represents a very important part of the national dairy production, no data are available concerning the concentrations of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs), and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in camel milk from the Republic of Kazakhstan. Selected PCDDs, PCDFs, and PCBs were measured in pools of milk from camels (n = 15) located in various places of Kazakhstan (Almaty, Atyrau, Aralsk, Shymkent) and sampled at two different seasons for two different species (Camelus bactrianus and Camelus dromedarius). Non-dioxin-like (NDL-)PCB concentrations (6.3 ± 2.7 ng g À1 fat, median 5.1 ng g À1 fat, range 0.6-17.4 ng g À1 fat) were far below the maximum value of 40 ng g À1 fat proposed by the EU. Dioxin-like (DL-)PCB concentrations (1.7 ± 0.7 ng g À1 fat, median 1.5 ng g À1 fat, range 0.3-4.2 ng g À1 fat) and the NDL-PCB to DL-PCB ratio (4.3) were similar to what is reported in EU for cow-based dairy products. PCB 52 and PCB 101 appeared to be proportionally more present in Kazakh camel milk samples (>60% of the sum of the 6 indicator NDL-PCBs) than in European cow milk samples (<10% of the sum of the 6 indicator NDL-PCBs), indicating possible differences in the route of exposure to PCBs in Kazakhstan. PCB 105 and PCB 118 appeared to be present at higher concentrations in camel milk (>80% of the sum of the 12 DL-PCBs). PCB 105, PCB 118 and PCB 156 were the major congeners for DL-PCBs, accounting for 92% of the sum of concentrations of DL-PCBs (88% for Belgian cows). In terms of TEQ, PCB 126 and PCB 118 are the major contributors and represent, respectively, 80% and 14% of the DL-PCB TEQ WHO05 concentrations. No significant interracial or geographical trends were observed for NDL-and DL-PCB profiles. However, concentrations of all DL-PCBs appeared to be significantly higher for samples collected in Atyrau region. 2,3,7,8-TCDD level (mean 0.08 ± 0.07 pg g À1 fat, median 0.08 pg g À1 fat, range 0.00-0.18 pg g À1 fat, 60% > LOQs) were very low for all samples and 2,3,4,7,8-PeCDF was the major contributor (27%) to the PCDD/F TEQ WHO05 . Considering the total TEQ WHO05 (sum of DL-PCBs and PCDD/Fs), DL-PCB and PCDD/F contributed for 73% and 27%, respectively. A decrease of only 1% of the total TEQ was observed when using the TEF WHO05 scale instead of the TEF WHO98 scale. Two samples collected in the region of Atyrau exceeded the EU maximum level value of 6.00 pg TEQ WHO98 g À1 fat (6.4 pg TEQ WHO05 g À1 fat and 6.9 pg TEQ WHO05 g À1 fat). Both samples exceeded the EU action level for the sum of DL-PCBs. Based on the fact that camel milk is used to prepare popular traditional fermented drinks like shubat, this suggests that the human exposure in the Caspian Sea region of Atyrau should be expected to be higher than in the other regions studied here.