Pesticides heptachlor

Lindane is one of eight different hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH), C H Cl, isomers and its Chemical Abstract n.2cniQ is la, 2a 3P, 4a, 5a 6P-hexachlorocyclohexane [58-89-9] (y-HCH or y-BHC, ben2ene hexachloride) (80). Commercial products containing lindane are marketed as either a mixture of isomers or as the pure y-BHC isomer. Not unexpectedly, lindane is a highly stable lipophilic compound and it has been used extensively worldwide as an insecticide. In contrast, hexachloropentadiene, C Cl, is an extremely reactive industrial intermediate used as a chemical intermediate in the synthesis of a broad range of cyclodiene-derived pesticides, which include endosulfan, endrin, heptachlor, and several different organohalogen flame retardants (81). 

Polychlorinated Pesticides. A once substantial but now diminished use for DCPD is in the preparation of chlorinated derivatives for further use or synthesis into pesticide compounds (see Insectcontrol technology). Soil permanence and solubiUty of the products in human fatty tissues have considerably restricted the use of these compounds. The more prominent chlorinated pesticides were aldrin, dieldrin, chlordane, and heptachlor, all of which use hexachorocyclopentadiene as a starting material. Aldrin and dieldrin are no longer used in the U.S. Chlordane and heptachlor are stiU produced, but only for export use. 

Although eggshell thinning attributable to DDE exposure has occurred in birds in the UK, the lethal and siiblethal effects of the cyclodiene pesticides aldrin, dieldrin and heptachlor are also believed to have contributed to the population effects, particularly in the case of the sparrowhawk and peregrine falcon. Following the withdrawal of DDT and the cyclodienes from use in the UK, Europe and North America, bird of prey populations that were severely affected have shown partial or complete recovery. ... 

In 1974, the Harmonized Monitoring Programme was set up by the Department of the Environment (DoE). The objective was to provide a network of sites at the lower end of catchments, where water quality data could be collected and analysed in a nationally consistent manner, allowing the loads of materials carried through river catchments into estuaries to be estimated and long-term trends in river quality to be assessed. The complete list of substances to be monitored is diverse and specifies about 115 substances. The pesticides aldrin, dieldrin, y-HCH, heptachlor, p,p -DDT and p,p -DDE are included. Figures 1 and 2 show the downward trend of y-HCH and dieldrin over the past 20 years at the Harmonized Monitoring Sites. This confirms that reductions in environmental concentrations have been achieved, particularly over the past 10 years. 

Figure 13.19 Chromatograms obtained by on-line SPE-GC-MS(SIM) of (a) 10 ml of tap water spiked with pesticides at levels of 0.1 ng 1 (b) 10 ml of a sample of unspiked tap water. Peak identification foi (a) is as follows 1, molinate 2, a-HCH 3, dimethoate 4, simazine 5, ati azine 6, y-HCH 7, S-HCH 8, heptachloi 9, ametiyn 10, prometiyn 11, fen-itrothion 12, aldrin 13, malatliion 14, endo-heptachlor 15, a-endosulfan 16, teti achlor-vinphos 17, dieldrin. Reprinted from Journal of Chromatography, A 818, E. Pocumll et al., On-line coupling of solid-phase exti action to gas cliromatography with mass specti ometiic detection to determine pesticides in water , pp. 85-93, copyright 1998, with permission from Elsevier Science.

Most of the common 15 hazardous pesticides are chlorinated hydrocarbons. Adsorption can be an important process for most. All except DDT, endosulfan, and heptachlor resist hydrolysis, and most are also resistant to biodegradation. Kearney and Kaufman118 review conditions under which chlorinated pesticides are biodegraded. 

Contamination of the biosphere by stable OCPs (DDT, HCH, aldrin, dieldrin, heptachlor, and toxafene) has become a global phenomenon. With global transfer, pesticides may reach countries that never produced or used them. In the northern hemisphere, where winds tend to blow from west to east, the rate of the wind in the boundary layer between the troposphere and the atmosphere is approximately 35 m/sec. Pesticide particles may completely orbit the Earth in approximately 12 days. Over this time, the probability of the particles falling to Earth may vary, and depends on the height of their orbit at a height of 3 km above sea level, particles will remain in the atmosphere for about seven days at a height of 6 km, for 30 days at a height of 30 km, for two years [31]. 

In Table 3.16, shaded pesticides are those detected in products where they should have been absent, because 1) they were banned (DDT, heptachlor) 2) their presence in all food products was banned (methyl parathion, 2,4-D, etc.) 3) they were not permitted to be present in particular food products (trichlorfon in meat and dairy products) and 4) they were not permitted to be used with particular crops. Unfortunately, practically the entire table is shaded, which shows that all regulations were violated. 

Pesticides, and especially OCPs (DDT and its metabolytes, HCH isomers, aldrine, dieldrin, heptachlor, etc.), are seen everywhere in mammals. Table 4.7 gives data on the death of higher vertebrates from causes linked to agricultural production in the USSR. About 40% of the accidental deaths of animals, and about 80% of birds, are due to pesticides. It is difficult to evaluate how many mammals in the environment die from pesticide contamination, since sick and weakened individuals fall prey to predators [6]. 

The carcinogenic activity of chemical substances is important as well. They are present in pesticides of different classes OCPs (DDT, aldrine, heptachlor, methoxychlor), thiocarbamates (thiram, zineb, ziram), carbamides (monuron) [3], etc. Even if the official description of a given pesticide does not denote its carcinogenic (mutagenic, teratogenic, embryotoxic, etc.) activity, this merely means that this particular pesticide was not studied sufficiently. 

All use of chlordane was banned in Norway in 1967 (Ingebrigtsen et al. 1984). In August 1975, the USEPA issued its intent to suspend registrations and prohibit production of all pesticides containing heptachlor or chlordane, based on evidence of carcinogenicity (Glooschenko and Lott 1977). On July 1, 1983, chlordane use was prohibited in the United States for any purpose except to control underground termites. A similar situation exists in Japan (Ohno et al. 1986 Tojo et al. 1986). 

Williams, G.M. and S. Numoto. 1984. Promotion of mouse liver neoplasms by the organochlorine pesticides chlordane and heptachlor in comparison to dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane. Carcinogenesis 5 1689-1696. 

A second organochlorine pesticide, heptachlor (HEP), a chlorinated cyclodiene that was used primarily as an agricultural and domestic insecticide, was evaluated for its potential to suppress the immune system of rats. Rats were exposed to HEP pre-and postnatally, as described above for MXC. The IgM antibody response to SRBCs was suppressed at all doses in males but not females at 8 weeks of age. At 26 weeks of age, the IgG anti-SRBC response was suppressed in all of the HEP-exposed males, but not females.131... 

Rachel Carson s book Silent Spring that was published in 1962, was the first popular work to bring the uncontrolled environmental contamination by pesticides to public attention. Well-publicized and well-organized campaigns were mounted in several countries to prohibit the use of DDT and other persistent chlorinated insecticides such as Aldrin and heptachlor. Governments in many developed countries like USA,... 

Terrence Collins is the Thomas Lord Professor of Chemistry at Carnegie Mellon University who contends that the dangers of chlorine chemistry are not adequately addressed by either academe or industry, and alternatives to chlorine and chlorine processors must be pursued. He notes, Many serious pollution episodes are attributable to chlorine products and processes. This information also belongs in chemistry courses to help avoid related mistakes. Examples include dioxin-contaminated 2,4,5-T, extensively used as a peacetime herbicide and as a component of the Vietnam War s agent orange chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs the pesticides aldrin, chlordane, dieldrin, DDT, endrin, heptachlor, hexachlorobenzene, lindane, mirex, and toxaphene pentachlorophe-... 

Estimated half-lives for chlorinated hydrocarbon pesticides vary widely [16, 22] Aldrin, 1-9 Dieldrin, 3-7 Chlordane, 1-8 Heptachlor, 1-4 and DDT, 3-10 years. Half-lives for PCBs range from one year to 16 years [23]. Other types of pesticides, e.g. organophosphates, triazines, carbamates and ureas, are generally less persistent [16, 24],... 

POPS currently regulated under the Convention include pesticides such as aldrin, chlorodane, DDT, dieldrin, endrin, heptachlor, mirex and toxaphene chemicals with industrial applications such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)2 and chemical byproducts such as dioxins and furans and hexachlorodbenzene, which fits in all three categories.3... 

The inclusion of a third-order term did not yield a significantly better fit (p > 0.6). There are no indications that PAHs and nonpolar chlorinated hydrocarbons have a different Ks - Ko dependence. By contrast, the moderately polar pesticides such as hexachlorocyclohexanes (HCHs), dieldrin, chlorpyrifos, heptachlor, and trifluralin (open and closed diamonds in Figure 3.3) have Ks values that are 0.6 log units lower than PAHs and PCBs with similar Ko values (p < 0.001). 

Laboratory tests can detect heptachlor and heptachlor epoxide in blood, fat, breast milk, and body tissues after exposure to high levels. These tests are not commonly available at your doctor s office. Most often, the test for heptachlor epoxide is used because heptachlor is quickly changed into heptachlor epoxide in your body. Blood samples are used most often because they are easy to collect. These tests are specific for heptachlor and heptachlor epoxide. However, heptachlor is both a breakdown product and a component of chlordane, another pesticide. So if heptachlor and heptachlor epoxide are measured in the blood, the actual exposure could have been to chlordane. 

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