Toxaphene was an insecticide used primarily for cotton in the southern United States during the late 1960s and the 1970s. Toxaphene is a mixture of over 670 different chemicals and is produced by reacting chlorine gas with camphene. It can be most commonly found as a yellow to amber waxy solid. Toxaphene was banned in the United States in 1990 and was banned globally by the 2001 Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants. It is a very persistent chemical that can remain in the environment for 1–14 years without degrading, particularly in the soil. Testing performed on animals, mostly rats and mice, has demonstrated that toxaphene is harmful to animals. Exposure to toxaphene has proven to stimulate the central nervous system, as well as induce morphological changes in the thyroid, liver, and kidneys. Toxaphene has been shown to cause adverse health effects in humans. The main sources of exposure are through food, drinking water, breathing contaminated air, and direct contact with contaminated soil. Exposure to high levels of toxaphene can cause damage to the lungs, nervous system, liver, kidneys, and in extreme cases, may even cause death. It is thought to be a potential carcinogen in humans, though this has not yet been proven.
Composition Toxaphene is a synthetic organic mixture composed of over 670 chemicals, formed by the chlorination of camphene (C10H16) to an overall chlorine content of 67–69% by weight. The bulk of the compounds (mostly chlorobornanes, chlorobornenes, chlorocamphenes, and other bicyclic chloroorganic compounds) found in toxaphene have chemical formulas ranging from C10H11Cl5 to C10H6Cl12, with a mean formula of C10H10Cl8. The formula weights of these compounds range from 308 to 551 grams/mole; the theoretical mean formula has a value of 414 grams/mole. Toxaphene is usually seen as a yellow to amber waxy solid with a piney odor. It is highly insoluble in water but freely soluble in aromatic hydrocarbons and readily soluble in aliphatic organic solvents. It is stable at room temperature and pressure. It is volatile enough to be transported for long distances through the atmosphere.
Applications Advertisements for Toxaphene were seen in agricultural periodicals such as Farm Journal as early as 1950. Toxaphene was primarily used as a pesticide for cotton in the southern United States during the late 1960s and 1970s. It was also used on small grains, maize, vegetables, and soybeans. Outside of the realm of crops, it was also used to control ectoparasites such as lice, flies, ticks, mange, and scam mites on livestock. In some cases it was used to kill undesirable fish species in lakes and streams. The breakdown of usage can be summarized: 85% on cotton, 7% to control insect pests on livestock and poultry, 5% on other field crops, 3% on soybeans, and less than 1% on sorghum. The first recorded usage of toxaphene was in 1966 in the United States, and by the early to mid 1970s, toxaphene was the United States' most heavily used pesticide. Over 34 million pounds of toxaphene were used annually from 1966 to 1976. As a result of Environmental Protection Agency restrictions, annual toxaphene usage fell to 6.6 million pounds in 1982. In 1990, the EPA banned all usage of toxaphene in the United States. Toxaphene is still used in countries outside the United States but much of this usage has been undocumented. Between 1970 and 1995, global usage of toxaphene was estimated to be 670 million kilograms (1.5 billion pounds).
Production Toxaphene was first produced in the United States in 1947 although it was not heavily used until 1966. By 1975, toxaphene production reached its peak at 59.4 million pounds annually. Production decreased more than 90% from this value by 1982 due to Environmental Protection Agency restrictions. Overall, an estimated 234,000 metric tons (over 500 million pounds) have been produced in the United States. Between 25% and 35% of the toxaphene produced in the United States has been exported. There are currently 11 toxaphene suppliers worldwide.
Environmental effects When released into the environment, toxaphene can be quite persistent and exists in the air, soil, and water. In water, it can evaporate easily and is fairly insoluble. Its solubility is 3 mg/L of water at 22 degrees Celsius. Toxaphene breaks down very slowly and has a half-life of up to 12 years in the soil. It is most commonly found in air, soil, and sediment found at the bottom of lakes or streams. It can also be present in many parts of the world where it was never used because toxaphene is able to evaporate and travel long distances through air currents. Toxaphene can eventually be degraded, through dechlorination, in the air using sunlight to break it down. The degradation of toxaphene usually occurs under aerobic conditions. The levels of toxaphene have decreased since its ban. However, due to its persistence, it can still be found in the environment today.
Exposure The three main paths of exposure to toxaphene are ingestion, inhalation, and absorption. For humans, the main source of toxaphene exposure is through ingested seafood. When toxaphene enters the body, it usually accumulates in fatty tissues. It is broken down through dechlorination and oxidation in the liver, and the byproducts are eliminated through feces. People that live near an area that has high toxaphene contamination are at high risk to toxaphene exposure through inhalation of contaminated air or direct skin contact with contaminated soil or water. Eating large quantities of fish on a daily basis also increases susceptibility to toxaphene exposure. Finally, exposure is rare, yet possible through drinking water when contaminated by toxaphene runoff from the soil. However, toxaphene has been rarely seen at high levels in drinking water due to toxaphene's nearly complete insolubility in water. Shellfish, algae, fish and marine mammals have all been shown to exhibit high levels of toxaphene. People in the Canadian Arctic, where a traditional diet consists of fish and marine animals, have been shown to consume ten times the accepted daily intake of toxaphene. Also, blubber from beluga whales in the Arctic were found to have unhealthy and toxic levels of toxaphene.
Health effects
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