High resolution capillary gas chromatographic analysis of the polychlorobiphenyls (PCBs) present in snapping turtle eggs, provided quantitative data on selected toxic congeners. The concentrations of these congeners have been converted into equivalent toxic concentrations of 2,3,7,8-tetrachloro-p-dibenzodioxin (TCDD). The toxic equivalent factors (TEFs), necessary to effect this transformation were derived from EC50values (half the concentration of the toxic congener required to produce the maximum effect) for aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase (AHH) induction associated with the corresponding toxic PCB congener or isomer. Summation of the resulting toxic equivalents provided a composite assessment of the toxlcity of the PCB mixture in terms of an equivalent concentration of TCDD.