Toxaphene properties

Uses Emulsifier for agric. formulations specific for Toxaphene Properties Liq. 100% cone. 

A waste is toxic under 40 CFR Part 261 if the extract from a sample of the waste exceeds specified limits for any one of eight elements and five pesticides (arsenic, barium, cadmium, chromium, lead, mercury, selenium, silver, endrin, methoxychlor, toxaphene, 2,4-D and 2,4,5-TP Silvex using extraction procedure (EP) toxicity test methods. Note that this narrow definition of toxicity relates to whether a waste is defined as hazardous for regulatory purposes in the context of this chapter, toxicity has a broader meaning because most deep-well-injected wastes have properties that can be toxic to living organisms. 

Results of volatilization and leaching estimations are reported for six pesticides that span a wide range of the physical/chemical properties that affect fate at the soil/air interface. The pesticides are Mirex, toxaphene, methoxychlor, lindane, malathion, and dibromochloropropane (DBCP). These particular pesticides were chosen for discussion here because they illustrate the methods for assessing the fate of organics at the... 

Adsorption and persistence in plants can be modified by other chemicals or by selected carriers, although mechanisms to account for these phenomena are unclear. The application mixture influences adsorption and persistence of fenvalerate. For example, interception and persistence in sugarcane were increased when fenvalerate was applied in a 25% water/75% soybean oil mixture vs. water or soybean oil alone (Smith et al. 1989). Also, biocidal properties of fenvalerate residues on cotton foliage were increased up to 100% due to enhanced persistence of fenvalerate in the presence of toxaphene (Brown et al. 1982). 

Starmont RT, Conley BE Pharmacologic properties of toxaphene, a chlorinated hydrocarbon insecticide. JAMA 149 1135-1137, 1952... 

Table 1 Physical-chemical properties of technical toxaphene and selected congeners... 

In the following sections, the physico-chemical properties and the bioconcentration of selected super-hydrophobic persistent organic pollutants (POPs) such as 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD),octachlorodibenzo-p-dio-xin (OCDD), Mirex, and Toxaphene in fish and other animals will be discussed. 

Toxaphene has a broad spectrum of pesticidal activity [3]. It was mainly used on cotton, but was also sprayed extensively on soybeans, peanuts, tobacco, vegetables, turf, and many other crops [3,20,26]. The use on 168 agricultural commodities has been reported [20]. One special field of application of toxaphene was during flowering due to its presumed moderate toxicity to bees [20]. The product manufactured in the former German Democratic Republic was most likely called Melipax (Fig. 1) due to this property The name is an acronym of Apis mellifera (zoological name of the honeybee) and pax (Latin for peace) [27],... 

Media exposed to toxaphene contamination in the environment can be differentiated according to their metabolization properties as follows ... 

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]. 

Furthermore, both components differed in their toxic properties. B8-1413 (P-26) caused limb and flexion abnormalities which were not observed with B9-1679 (P-50). It is noteworthy, that these two congeners are most abundant in human blood. Calciu et al. concluded that environmentally predominant toxaphene congeners can have organ-specific embryotoxic effects not predicted by studies on technical toxaphene [246]. Consequently, there is a need for further studies concerning the health implications of toxaphene congeners, particularly among the highly exposed Inuit populations [246]. 

Endocrine disruption has recently become a significant concern for organochlorine insecticides in both human and environmental health. Many organochlorine chemicals, including cyclodiene insecticides, mirex, and toxaphene as well as PCBs and PCDDs have been shown to have endocrine disrupting properties. 

The neuroexcitatory properties of toxaphene are due to its ability to reduce chloride uptake into neurons, leading to depolarization of the cells and hyperactivity. It is believed that toxaphene acts on the picrotoxin-binding site on the GABAa receptor. 

The chlorinated pesticides DDT and chlordecone are known to generate deleterious reproductive effects. In a bioassay of these and other chlorinated pesticides on cultured human breast estrogen-sensitive MCF7 cells, it was shown that dieldrin, toxaphene, and endosulfan have estrogenic properties comparable to those of DDT and chlordecone. When tested together, the mixture of the three pesticides induced estrogenic responses... 

From the ecological point of view, an important property of toxaphene is that of the insecticides used at present, it is the least toxic to bees. Additionally, its terpene-like odour is repellent to bees, so that it is recognised as a substance which does them little harm and can thus be used on plants in bloom. 

Chlorinated Hydrocarbons. Properties of some chlorinated hydrocarbon insecticides are given in Table VI. All of the compounds, except for lindane, are insoluble in water. DDT is about ten times more insoluble than the other chlorinated hydrocarbons. The vapor pressure of the compounds are classified as follows low(0.1 -0.9 X 10 mm Hg)—DDT, endrin, and dieldrin, moderate (1.0-9.9 X 10 mm Hg)— toxaphene and aldrin, high (10-99 X 10 mm Hg)—chlordan and lindane, and very high (100-999 X 10" mm Hg)— heptachlor. 

Because toxaphene consists of numerous compounds, it seems inappropriate and misleading to continue using the name toxaphene to describe this insecticide. It is known that chemical properties, such as solubility, toxicity, volatility, and other properties, are the sum of the individual contributions of many different compounds in differing relative amounts. A 50-fold difference between toxicides of toxaphene components can occur, and, with a wide range in the polarity of different fractions, there prohahly are also significant solubility differences. In addition, the composition of toxaphene changes with time, and residues in fat are not of the same coinxtsition as parent toxaphene. The metabolism of toxaphene... 

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