Organochlorine pesticides toxaphene

Wilson and co-workers [332, 333] have discussed the determination of aldrin, chlordane, dieldrin, endrin, lindane, o,p and p,p isomers of DDT and its metabolites, mirex, and toxaphene in seawater and molluscs. The US environmental Protection Agency has also published methods for organochlo-rine pesticides in water and wastewater. The Food and Drug Administration (USA) [334] has conducted a collaborative study of a method for multiple organochlorine insecticides in fish. Earlier work by Wilson et al. [333, 335] in 1968 indicated that organochlorine pesticides were not stable in seawater. 

Cyclodiene pesticides, of which endrin and its oxidized analogs are representative, can also be estimated by receptor-assay technique. Cyclodiene pesticides exert their mode of action by altering central nervous system membrane ion transport. In work reported by Saleh et al. (1993), a labeled amino acid, GABA, that binds to the chloride channel receptor is displaced by endrin (and other similar molecules), and thus serves as an assay for these pesticides. The GABA receptor was shown to be a potentially useful biomarker for organochlorine pesticides such as lindane, toxaphene, endrin, chlordane, and others. The assay involves small quantities of blood (0.1 mL), and requires only that the plasma be separated from the... 

Lindane (gamma-hexachlorocyclohexane) is one of the last of the old style organochlorine pesticides still in use. Use of organochlorines such as DDT, aldrin, dieldrin, heptachlor, and toxaphene is restricted or banned in many countries because of their persistence in the environment, bioaccumulation, and toxicity. Lindane was first isolated in 1825 along with other similar compounds, but its deadly effects on insects were not recognized until the 1940s. 

Fig. 4 Concentrations of organochlorine pesticides in lake trout and walleye (Lake Erie only) collected in 1988 and 1998. For mirex and toxaphene, 1991 concentrations are presented instead of 1988 values. From [32,33]...

Fig. 2.9. Historical usage amounts of each organochlorine pesticides DDTs, CHLs, Al-drin, Endrin, Toxaphene, and Heptachlor from KMOE (2004c), HCHs from Lee (1982), and Endosulfan from Lee (1982) by 1980 and modified from Jeong et al. (2001c) since 1981. Total endosulfan use of five years (from Jeong et al. (2001c)) was converted to annual average amount.

Organochlorine pesticides were predominantly used during the 1950s-1970s in China. DDT, HCH, toxaphene, HCB, chlordane, heptachlor, and mirex used to be produced in China. Historically, there have been 60 POP pesticide-producing enterprises, which were located in 18 provinces in China. 

In 1997, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Governing Council decided that immediate international action should be taken to protect human health and the environment. International negotiations to reduce and eliminate the emission and discharges of an initial set of 12 POPs were initiated at the Stockholm Convention on POPs in May 2001. The 12 substances that were addressed at the Stockholm Convention were aldrin, endrin, dieldrin, dichlorodiphenyltrichoroethanes (DDTs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs), chlordane, toxaphene, heptachlor, hex-achlorobenzene (HCB) and mirex. Basic information and status of major organochlorine pesticides in China are summarized in Table 8.1. 

Chlordane was introduced as an insecticide in 1945 and was the first cyclodiene insecticide that was used in agriculture (Eisler, 1990). It was the second most important organochlorine pesticide after toxaphene from 1976 to 1977 (Stansley Roscoe, 1999). It has been used on agricultural crops and extensively in the control of termites (Smith, 1991). Chlordane and heptachlor can be metabolized into two persistent (oxygenated) epoxides—oxychlordane and heptachlor epoxide—in mammals (Nomeir Hajjar, 1987) such that the two compounds are always measured together with chlordane and heptachlor. 

Muir, D.C.G., Jones, P.D., Karlsson, H., Koczansky, K., Stern, G.A., Kannan, K., Ludwig, J.P., Reid, H., Robertson, C.J.R., Giesy, J.P., 2002. Toxaphene and other persistent organochlorine pesticides in three species of albatrosses from the north and south Pacific Ocean. Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 21, 413 123. 

Recent surveys showed that the pesticide toxaphene is a major organochlorine [2] contaminant of aquatic life in polar regions and lakes all over the world. ... 

The trace enrichment of pesticides from groundwater is a straightforward problem for reversed-phase SPE. The following example uses the EMPORE disk (C-18) to isolate organochlorine pesticides including aldrin, chlordane, endrin, heptachlor, lindane, methoxychlor, pentachlorophenol, and toxaphene from groundwater (Fig. 4.15). 

The stability of the organochlorine pesticides in the cod liver oil was studied at three temperatures (-20°C, +20°C and +40 C) after 1, 3, 6 and 12 months, using the same method as applied in the homogeneity study. Due to an interference with toxaphene, the results of the measurement of y-chlordane were found to be unrealistic. Therefore, the stability of this compound could not be demonstrated. As for o,p -DDE the origin of the unreliability of the results is due to the instability of o,p -DDT in the analytical system, both compounds were not considered for certification. For the remaining OCPs no instability could be demonstrated. 

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