Aldrin toxicity

Aldrin is insecticidally active as a contact and stomach poison against a wide range of soil pests. It is non-phytotoxic and does not cause taint. Aldrin is toxic to humans and animals and is now less used. 

The edible parts of parsnips contain a chemical of insecticidal and strong synergistic nature. This chemical, present in a concentration of about 200 p.p.m., was isolated and identified as 5-allyl-l-methoxy -2, 3-methylene-dioxybenzene or myristicin. Its toxicity to various insects (fruit flies, etc.) was established and compared with pyrethrum and aldrin. A second chemical, identified as 2-phenylethyl isothiocyanate, was found in the edible parts of turnips and rutabaga, which also have been consumed for centuries by humans without obvious harm. 

The cyclodiene insecticides aldrin, dieldrin, endrin, heptachlor, endosulfan, and others were introduced in the early 1950s. They were used to control a variety of pests, parasites, and, in developing countries, certain vectors of disease such as the tsetse fly. However, some of them (e.g., dieldrin) combined high toxicity to vertebrates with marked persistence and were soon found to have serious side effects in the field, notably in Western European countries where they were extensively used. During the 1960s, severe restrictions were placed on cyclodienes so that few uses remained by the 1980s. 

As mentioned earlier (Figure 5.5), aldrin and heptachlor are rapidly metabolized to their respective epoxides (i.e., dieldrin and heptachlor epoxide) by most vertebrate species. These two stable toxic compounds are the most important residues of the three insecticides found in terrestrial or aquatic food chains. In soils and sediments, aldrin and heptachlor are epoxidized relatively slowly and, in contrast to the situation in biota, may reach significant levels (note, however, the difference between aldrin and dieldrin half-lives in soil shown in Table 5.8). The important point is that, after entering the food chain, they are quickly converted to their epoxides, which become the dominant residues. 

Some data on cyclodiene toxicity is presented in Table 5.9. Aldrin and dieldrin have similar levels of acute toxicity indeed, the toxicity of aldrin has been largely attributed to its stable metabolite, dieldrin. Dieldrin is highly toxic to fish, mammals. 

Cyclodienes A group of organochlorine (OC) insecticides, some of which are highly toxic and persistent (e.g., aldrin, dieldrin, and heptachlor). 

An atom economic route to the insecticide aldrin (Scheme 1.9) was developed some fifty years ago. This very potent insecticide was later banned in most countries owing to its toxicity to wild life. This example illustrates the need to look at the whole product lifecycle, not just the synthetic route. 

Alkali-Stable Polychloro Organic Insect Toxicants, Aldrin and Dieldrin... 

During the past 30 months two new compounds, aldrin and dieldrin, possessing great usefulness as insect toxicants, have been devised, synthesized, and studied in the laboratories of Julius Hyman Company. Both compounds are completely impervious... 

Kearns, Weinman, and Decker rate the more common halogenated insect toxicants in the following order of decreasing toxicity (7) dieldrin, aldrin, heptachlor, 7-hexachloro-cyclohexane, chlordan, toxaphene, and DDT. This rating follows as the result of rather extensive tests on ten species of insects and is believed to represent, in general, the order of their relative activity. 

In order to evaluate the actual magnitude of the insect toxicity of aldrin and dieldrin and the utility of these new compounds, additional data must be considered. (Many of the data herein presented have been obtained from letters and other unpublished communications. The details of the entomological investigations thus represented will, in most instances, be published in appropriate journals by their authors.)... 

The effectiveness of the insect toxicant aldrin to a wide variety of cotton pests has been determined through a large number of field tests. As a result of these tests, recommendations have been published suggesting the use of a mixture of 2.5% aldrin and 5%... 

Studies on the control of various species of ants show conclusively that aldrin consistently gives control when applied to infested turf at the rate of 1 ounce per 1000 square feet (4 ounces of 25% wettable powder in 200 gallons of water). This dosage is only half of that required when chlordan is the toxicant employed (11,12). 

Aldrin and dieldrin show high toxicity to insect life, but differ greatly with respect to the length of time during which they exhibit residual activity. 

Aldrin, like chlordan, exhibits residual effectiveness under field conditions for somewhat less than 3 weeks. Even when aldrin is applied at the uneconomical and unnecessary rate of 5 pounds per acre, leafy material so treated exhibits only slight insect toxicity after 3 weeks. Aldrin, therefore, falls into that class of materials which exhibit pronounced initial toxicity but relatively short residual action. 

Aldrin exhibits only moderate persistence and evaporates completely under field conditions in somewhat less than 3 weeks. Consequently, if the simple precaution of applying aldrin not later than 3 weeks before crop harvest is observed, the possibility of undesired toxicant residue on harvested crops should be very slight. 

Two new insect toxicants, aldrin and dieldrin, provide new halogenated insect toxicants with an extremely high order of toxicity toward insects, combined, for the first time, with complete stability to alkalies. Under all the usual conditions of use these new toxicants are also stable to acids. Data illustrate the order of magnitude of the insecticidal activity of these materials and their utility. Aldrin is a relatively nonresidual material, in contrast to dieldrin which, because of its high persistence, exhibits prolonged residual activity. 

The recent announcements of the insect toxicants Compound 118, 1,2,3,4,10,10-hexa-chloro-l,4,4a,5,8,8a-hexahydro-l,4,5,8-dimethanonaphthalene (IV) (1, 15), and Compound 497, l,2,3,4,10,10-hexachloro-6,7-epoxy-l,4,4a,5,6,7,8,8a-octahydro-l,4,5,8-dimeth-anonaphthalene (V) (15) are of further interest. The official name aldrin has been designated for material containing at least 95% of IV, and dieldrin for material containing at least 85% of V. 

As Muller had prophesied and indeed hoped, DDT stimulated the discovery of more synthetic insecticides. DDT relatives included chlordane, toxaphene, aldrin, dieldrin, endrin, and heptachlor. Popular substitutes for DDT s family included organophosphates such as parathion, which is a powerful neurotoxin, and carbamates, which are also highly toxic to people. Unlike DDT, parathion and aldicarb have killed and injured many farm workers. Malathion was later developed to be several hundred times less toxic than parathion. 

Toxic Pollutants (Concentrations Shown in jxg/L) Pesticides and metabolites Aldrin 37 2 4-11 7... 

Each pesticide used in the USSR had the same history permit, realization that a mistake was made, ban. The only variable in all of these histories was the length of time required to understand that a mistake had been made when the permit was issued. When removing the pesticide from circulation, officials dted several reasons wen/ high toxicity (aldrin, dieldrin, parathion, demeton,... 

The insecticide heptachlor oxidizes in the soil, and becomes a more toxic epoxide, capable of remaining for a long time. The insecticide aldrin transforms in the soil into dieldrin, maintaining its toxicity [15, 30]. Mirex (FDso=300-600 mg/kg), used to fight ants, just like kelevan (FDS0=255-325 mg/kg), used to fight the Colorado beetle, transform in the soil into the more toxic chlordekon (FD50 decreases to 95-140 mg/kg) [30]. 

The insecticide heptachlor (FD50 for mice is 82 mg/kg [4]) oxidizes into an epoxy-product in living organisms this product is twice as toxic for practically all species [21, 35]. The insecticide aldrin (FD50 is 40-50 mg/ kg) oxidizes in plants, insects, and invertebrates, as well as in the soil it thus transforms into the seed protectant dieldrin (FD50 is 25-50 mg/kg), which is equally as dangerous to humans [15] aldrin => dieldrin. 

Chlordane interacts with other chemicals to produce additive or more-than-additive toxicity. For example, chlordane increased hepatotoxic effects of carbon tetrachloride in the rat (USEPA 1980 WHO 1984), and in combination with dimethylnitrosamine acts more than additively in producing liver neoplasms in mice (Williams and Numoto 1984). Chlordane in combination with either endrin, methoxychlor, or aldrin is additive or more-than-additive in toxicity to mice (Klaassen et al. 1986). Protein deficiency doubles the acute toxicity of chlordane to rats (WHO 1984). In contrast, chlordane exerts a protective effect against several organophosphorus and carbamate insecticides (WHO 1984), protects mouse embryos against influenza virus infection, and mouse newborns against oxazolone delayed hypersensitivity response (Barnett et al. 1985). More research seems warranted on interactions of chlordane with other agricultural chemicals. 

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