Toxaphene toxicity

Recently it was shown that when DDT, benzene hexachloride, or toxaphene is fed or applied to cattle, such organic chlorine residue as may be present in the fatty tissues consists essentially of unchanged insecticide. Carter (12) demonstrated their presence by separating the fats and other oxygenated products with sulfuric acid-sodium sulfate mixture and determining total chlorine. In experiments with DDT Schechter (46) demonstrated its presence in fatty tissue and in butterfat by the Schechter-Haller colorimetric method (47). The residues were then tested for toxicity to houseflies in comparison with the known insecticides of the same concentration. In both cases the known insecticide gave the same mortality as the residue. 

In addition to the tests made on peaches and apricots, samples of prunes from trees that had been sprayed with parathion, DDT, DDD, basic lead arsenate, and toxaphene at the rate of from 1 to 2 pounds of these insecticides per 100 gallons of water were tested on larvae of Aedes aegypti. The trees had been sprayed on April 20 and June 16, 1948. The fruit was harvested on or about September 10. Prunes from trees that had been treated with 1 quart of tetraethyl pyrophosphate and 12 pounds of sulfur dust per acre on June 15, and harvested about July 6, were tested on larvae of the above named species. None of the prune samples tested in this study exhibited any significant toxicity to mosquito larvae as compared with the unsprayed check. 

Kearns, Weinman, and Decker rate the more common halogenated insect toxicants in the following order of decreasing toxicity (7) dieldrin, aldrin, heptachlor, 7-hexachloro-cyclohexane, chlordan, toxaphene, and DDT. This rating follows as the result of rather extensive tests on ten species of insects and is believed to represent, in general, the order of their relative activity. 

The commonly used organic insect toxicants do not interfere in the analysis of Compound 118 by this new procedure. Hexane solutions of chlordan, DDT, methoxychlor, hexachlorocyclohexane (BHC), and toxaphene treated according to the procedure for determining Compound 118 gave a pale yellow color similar to that of the blank. 

Table I. Toxicity to Houseflies of Toxaphene Residues on Alfalfa Hay...

Different samples of chlorinated camphene containing from 62 to 72% of chlorine all give the same infrared spectra. However, the toxicity to flies reaches a maximum at a chlorine content of 67 to 69% and drops off rapidly below 60% and above 72%. From the results of both the infrared spectroscopic examination and the fly-toxicity tests given below, it is concluded that the organic-chlorine compound in the fat was essentially unchanged toxaphene. 

As Muller had prophesied and indeed hoped, DDT stimulated the discovery of more synthetic insecticides. DDT relatives included chlordane, toxaphene, aldrin, dieldrin, endrin, and heptachlor. Popular substitutes for DDT s family included organophosphates such as parathion, which is a powerful neurotoxin, and carbamates, which are also highly toxic to people. Unlike DDT, parathion and aldicarb have killed and injured many farm workers. Malathion was later developed to be several hundred times less toxic than parathion. 

Toxic organic compounds commonly found in groundwater are presented in Table 18.4. Other toxic organic compounds (representing 1% of cases) include PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls), 2,4-D, 2,4,5-TP (silvex), toxaphene, methoxychlor, lindane, and endrin, of which 2,4-D and silvex are commonly used for killing aquatic and land weeds. Inorganic toxic substances commonly found in... 

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. 

Maximum acceptable toxicant concentration values (MATC) for toxaphene and aquatic organisms, based on exposure for the entire or most of the life cycle... 

Acute oral toxicity of toxaphene to birds and mammals... 

Toxaphene is extremely toxic to freshwater and marine biota. In laboratory tests of 96-h duration, 50% mortality was recorded for the most sensitive species of freshwater and marine teleosts, marine crustaceans, and freshwater insects at nominal water concentrations of less than 10 pg/L of toxaphene, and, in several cases, less than 1 pg/L (Table 27.2). Bioassays of longer duration, based on exposure of aquatic organisms for the entire or most of the life cycle, produced significant adverse effects on growth, survival, and reproduction at toxaphene concentrations between 0.025 and 1.0 pg/L (Table 27.3). Toxaphene was most toxic to freshwater fishes in soft water at elevated temperatures (Saleh 1991). Based on its high toxicity and extensive use, it is not surprising that toxaphene was considered a major cause of nationwide fish kills in 1977 (USEPA 1980b). 

Table 27.2 Acute Toxicity of Toxaphene to Aquatic Organisms... 

Table 27.3 Maximum Acceptable Toxicant Concentration Values (MATC) for Toxaphene and Aquatic Organisms, Based on Exposure for the Entire or Most of the Life Cycle (Concentrations are in micrograms of toxaphene per liter [ppb].)... 

Table 27.4 Acute Oral Toxicity of Toxaphene to Birds and Mammals...

Some human deaths, especially those of children, have been reported following the ingestion of toxaphene-contaminated foods (USEPA 1980a). Known toxaphene residues in food items of victims ranged from 9.7 to 47 mg/kg a total dose of 2 to 7 g of toxaphene is considered acutely toxic to a 70-kg adult. For comparison purposes, a 4.5-kg bird would probably die after consumption of 45 to 450 mg toxaphene (USEPA 1980a). 

Toxicities of specific toxaphene congeners and their chemical analysis (USPHS 1994)... 

Chandra, J. and G. Durairaj. 1992. Toxicity of toxaphene on histopathology of vital organs in guinea pig, Cavia porcellus. Jour. Environ. Biol. 13 315-322. 

Cohen, D.B., G.W. Bowes, and S.M. Ali. 1982. Toxaphene. California State Water Res. Control Bd., Toxic Substances Control Prog., Spec. Proj. Rep. 82-4SP. 126 pp. 

Hall, R.J. and D. Swineford. 1980. Toxic effects of endrin and toxaphene on the southern leopard frog Rana sphenocephala. Environ. Pollut. 23A 53-65. 

Isensee, A.R., G.E. Jones, J.A. McCann, and F.G. Pitcher. 1979. Toxicity and fate of nine toxaphene fractions in an aquatic model ecosystem. Jour. Agric. Food Chem. 27 1041-1046. 

Saleh, M.A. 1991. Toxaphene chemistry, biochemistry, toxicity and environmental fate. Rev. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 118 1-85. 

Schimmel, S.C., J.M. Patricj, Jr., and J. Forester. 1977. Uptake and toxicity of toxaphene in several estuarine organisms. Arch. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 5 353-367. 

U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS). 1994. Toxicological profile for toxaphene (update). USPHS, Agen. Toxic Subst. Dis. Regis. 216 pp. 

There are no effective boundaries when it comes to pollutants. Studies have shown that toxic insecticides that have been banned in many countries are riding the wind from countries where they remain legal. Compounds such as DDT and toxaphene have been found in remote places like the Yukon and other Arctic regions. 

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