Toxaphene in water

The net direction of gas exchange is estimated from measured concentrations of dissolved toxaphene in water and gaseous toxaphene in air (Cw and Ca, molm-3). Expressed in fugacity terminology [46] ... 

Three important properties which describe the behavior of a contaminant in aqueous systems are log Kow, water solubility, and vapor pressure [219]. Due to the complex composition of toxaphene and analytical uncertainty in the determination of these parameters (see Sect. 1.1), an exact evaluation of the congener-specific fate of toxaphene in water and air is presently not possible. However, Shoelb et al. identified B7-1001, B8-1413 (P-26), B8-806/B8-809 (P-42), B8-531 (P-39), B9-1679 (P-50), and further unknown toxaphene congeners in air from the north of Lake Ontario [68]. Interestingly, toxaphene levels in deep water (225 m) were significantly higher than in pelagic water (10 m) [220]. 

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. 

In water, the concentration of toxaphene considered safe for protection of freshwater life is conservatively estimated to lie between 0.008 and 0.013 pg/L for marine life, it is 0.07 pg/L. This is in sharp contrast to the current recommended drinking water criterion for human health protection of 5.0 to 8.8 pg/L. Similarly, residues in fish tissue in excess of 0.4 to 0.6 mg/kg wet weight may be hazardous to fish health and should be considered as presumptive evidence of significant environmental contamination, although fish may contain up to 5.0 mg/kg before they are considered hazardous to human consumers. Toxaphene criteria for human health protection — which range in various foods from 0.1 mg/kg for sunflower seeds to 7.0 mg/kg in meat, fats, and citrus fruits — also appear adequate to safeguard sensitive species of wildlife. 

Terrierre, L.C., U. Kiigemaki, A.R. Gerlach, and R.L. Borovicka. 1966. The persistence of toxaphene in lake water and its uptake in aquatic plants and animals. Jour. Agric. Food Chem. 14 66-69. 

Chlorinated micropoUutants are harmful for man and environment due to their toxicity, persistence, and bioaccumulation. Persistent compounds are very stable and difficult to get metabolized and mineralized by biological and chemical processes in the environment, and as a result, they have become ubiquitous in water, sediments, and the atmosphere bioaccumulation is the result of the lipophilicity of these compounds. Polychlorinated dibenzodioxins and -furans (PCDD/F) are not produced purposely like many of other chlorinated technical products, such as chlorinated biocides DDT, lindane, and toxaphene. The production and use of persistent organic pollutants (POPs), the dirty dozen has now been banned worldwide by the Stockholm protocol. It should be mentioned that about 3000 halogenated products have now been isolated as natural products in plants, microorganisms, and animals," but the total amount of these products is much smaller compared to xenobiotics. 

Surface Water. Hargrave et al. (2000) calculated BAFs as the ratio of the compound tissue concentration [wet and lipid weight basis (ng/g)] to the concentration of the compound dissolved in seawater (ng/mL). Average log BAF values for toxaphene in ice algae and phytoplankton collected from the Barrow Strait in the Canadian Archipelago were <5.38 and <5.46, respectively. 

First, the effects of aerobic and anaerobic culture conditions on toxaphene degradation were studied with washed P. putida cells grown on camphor and incubated with no readily usable carbon source. The radioactivities remaining in water after extraction with n-hexane were used as an indicator of metabolic activity. This was further extracted with ethyl acetate after acidification to divide this "total polar metabolites" fraction into aqueous buffer phase and ethyl acetate phase, i.e., the total polar metabolites reported refer to summation of the aqueous buffer and ethyl acetate soluble phases (Table 4). All radioactivities have been corrected by zero time controls and autoclaved 8 hr controls are included in each experiment. 

The International Joint Commission of the United States and Canada recommend a water quality standard of 0.008 pg/L for the protection of freshwater aquatic life. This standard is based on the study by Mayer et al. (1975), who found that toxaphene at 0.039 pg/L in water caused a significant increase in mortality and a significant decrease in growth of surviving brook trout fry over a 90-day period. The standard of 0.008 pg/L is obtained by applying an uncertainty value of 5. 

The xylene serves as probably the preferred solvent for liquid emulsifiable concentrates containing such active agents as DDT, DDD, toxaphene, chlordan, aldrin, para-thion, and certain other materials as typified by this class. The xylene has proved to be one of the finest solvents for these organic chemicals and also from the standpoint of emulsification in water, dispersion in water, and freedom from injury to the plants when applied at normal dilution levels. 

Toxaphene in Great Lakes Air, Precipitation and Surface Water. 218... 

Of the 5.34 x 1051 of toxaphene that were used in North America (includes the United States and Mexico), 1.541 (3%) was estimated to remain in active circulation as of the year 2000, 6.5 x 1041 (12%) had been removed from the continental environment by advection of air and water and burial in soils and sediments, and 4.54 x 1051 (85%) had been removed by degradation reactions. Most of the toxaphene in active circulation resides in the soils of the southern U.S. and Mexico (83%). The efficiency of toxaphene transfer to the Great Lakes from its usage within the basin was estimated to be 78 to 220 times greater than transfer from the southern United States. However, load-... 

Lower toxaphene concentrations have been found in smaller lakes within the Great Lakes watershed. Muir et al. [77] found toxaphene levels averaging 95 pg L 1 in Lake Nipigon (Table 5). Total toxaphene in Lake Siski-wit (Isle Royale) surface water sampled in May 1998 was 210 pgL-1 [74]. Chlorobornane congeners were not determined in this sample however, the heptachlorobornanes were the predominant homolog group (110 pgL-1) followed by octachlorobornanes (76 pg L 1). 

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