Endrin ketone

Frequency of Sites with Endrin Ketone Contamination... 

Ongoing Research for Endrin, Endrin Aldehyde, or Endrin Ketone... 

Regulations and Guidelines Applicable to Endrin/Endrin Aldehyde/Endrin Ketone... 

This statement was prepared to give you information about endrin and to emphasize the human health effects that may result from exposure to it. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) identifies the most serious hazardous waste sites in the nation. These sites make up the National Priorities List (NPL) and are the sites targeted for long-term federal clean-up activities. Endrin has been found in at least 120 (8.4%) of the current or former NPL sites. Endrin ketone has been found in at least 37 sites of the current or former sites on the NPL. However, the number of NPL sites evaluated for endrin ketone is not known. As the EPA evaluates more sites, the number of sites at which endrin ketone is found may increase. This information is important because exposure to endrin may cause harmful health effects and because these sites are potential or actual sources of human exposure to endrin. 

This toxicologic profile focuses on endrin, but because of its close association to both endrin aldehyde and endrin ketone, the profile includes studies with data relevant to human exposure to these compounds when available. 

Endrin is a solid, white, almost odorless substance that was used as a pesticide to control insects, rodents, and birds. Endrin has not been produced or sold for general use in the United States since 1986. Little is known about the properties of endrin aldehyde, an impurity and breakdown product of endrin, or endrin ketone, which is a product of endrin when it is exposed to light. 

Further information on the properties and uses of endrin, endrin aldehyde, and endrin ketone is in Chapters 3 and 4. 

The persistence of endrin in the environment depends highly on local conditions. Some estimates indicate that endrin can stay in soil for over 10 years. Endrin may also be broken down by exposure to high temperatures (230 °C) or light to form primarily endrin ketone and endrin aldehyde. 

It is not known what happens to endrin aldehyde or endrin ketone once they are released to the environment however, the amount of endrin broken down to endrin aldehyde or endrin ketone is... 

Endrin was found in less than 1% of all food sampled by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1991. Because endrin is no longer used in the United States, residues on imported foods are the main source of potential human exposure in food. The levels of endrin aldehyde or endrin ketone in foods are not known. 

Endrin and endrin aldehyde can enter your body when you eat foods or drink beverages or breathe air that contain this substance, or when it comes in contact with your skin. When endrin enters your body in any of these ways, it is rapidly changed into other substances. Endrin and its metabolic breakdown products are rapidly removed from the body, usually within a few days, through the urine and feces. There is some evidence that small amounts of endrin may remain in the fatty tissue of your body when you are exposed to high levels. No information is known about how endrin aldehyde or endrin ketone leaves the body. 

One study in rodents suggests that exposure to endrin aldehyde or endrin ketone may cause liver disease. No other studies were found on how endrin aldehyde or endrin ketone can affect your health. 

Further information on how endrin levels can be measured in exposed persons is in Chapter 6. No information is available on tests for exposure to endrin aldehyde or endrin ketone. 

More detailed information on federal and state regulations related to endrin is in Chapter 7. No information can be found on government regulations for endrin aldehyde or endrin ketone. 

The primary purpose of this chapter is to provide public health officials, physicians, toxicologists, and other interested individuals and groups with an overall perspective of the toxicology of endrin, endrin ketone and endrin aldehydex. It contains descriptions and evaluations of toxicological studies and epidemiological investigations and provides conclusions, where possible, on the relevance of toxicity and toxicokinetic data to public health. 

The concentrations associated with death in each species are recorded in Table 2-1 and plotted in Figure 2-1. No studies were located regarding lethal effects in humans or animals after inhalation exposure to endrin aldehyde or endrin ketone. 

Renal Effects. Diffuse degenerative changes were observed in the kidneys of rabbits and mice that died following exposure to 0.36 ppm (15 mg/m3) of endrin (Treon et al. 1955). No further details of the kidney pathology were provided. No studies were located regarding renal effects in humans after inhalation exposure to endrin, endrin aldehyde, or endrin ketone. 

Inhalation experiments in rabbits and mice showed diffuse degenerative lesions of the brain in rabbits (but not the mouse) that died after exposure to 15 mg/m3 (0.36 ppm) of endrin for 118 days over a 185-day period (Treon et al. 1955). Seizures were not observed prior to death. Ressang et al. (1959) reported slight degenerative lesions of ganglion cells in the brains of cats exposed to a lethal concentration of endrin via inhalation. No studies were located regarding neurological effects in humans or animals after inhalation exposure to endrin aldehyde or endrin ketone. 

No studies were located regarding cancer in animals after inhalation exposure to endrin, endrin aldehyde, or endrin ketone. 

No studies were located regarding the health effects of endrin aldehyde or endrin ketone in humans following oral exposure. Limited data from a feeding study in rats suggest that endrin aldehyde and endrin ketone can cause hepatic effects (elevated serum enzymes) (Young and Mehendale 1986). 

Studies regarding the systemic effects that have been observed in humans and animals after oral exposure to endrin are discussed below. The highest NOAEL and all LOAEL values from each reliable study for each systemic effect in each species and duration category are recorded in Table 2-2 and plotted in Figure 2-2. No studies were located regarding musculoskeletal or ocular effects in humans or animals after oral exposure to endrin, endrin aldehyde, or endrin ketone. No studies were located regarding hepatic, endocrine, ocular, or body weight effects in humans. 

No gastrointestinal effects from endrin ketone or endrin aldehyde in humans or laboratory animals were located. 

Dietary exposure of rats to 10 ppm (0.5 mg/kg/day) endrin aldehyde or 5 ppm (0.25 mg/kg/day) endrin ketone for 15 days resulted in slight elevations (p<0.05) in SGPT and SGOT (Young and Mehendale 1986). However, no alterations in liver weight or in hepatobiliary function, as measured by phenolphthalein glucuronide or bile flow, were reported. 

No endocrine effects have been reported for endrin aldehyde or endrin ketone in humans or in laboratory animals. 

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