Chloroterpenes and other organochlorines in Baltic, Finnish and Arctic wildlife

Abstract Organochlorine (OC) insecticides have been regulated as possible human carcinogens primarily on the basis of animal studies. However, the epidemiologic evidence is inconsistent. We investigated the relationship between cancer incidence and OC insecticide use among pesticide applicators enrolled in the Agricultural Health Study, a prospective cohort study of 57,311 licensed applicators in Iowa and North Carolina enrolled between 1993 and 1997. Information on ever use of 7 OC insecticides (aldrin, chlordane, DDT, dieldrin, heptachlor, lindane, toxaphene) was collected from a self‐administered questionnaire at enrollment. Lifetime exposure‐days to OC insecticides were calculated using additional data from a take‐home questionnaire completed by 25,291 participants (44% of total). We found no clear evidence of an association between use of OC insecticides and incident cancers ( N = 1,150) ascertained through December, 2002. When we focused on individual insecticides and structurally similar groups (aldrin and dieldrin; chlordane and heptachlor), significantly increased relative risks of some cancers were observed for use of some chemicals (rectal cancer and chlordane, lung cancer and dieldrin, non‐Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) and lindane, melanoma and toxaphene, leukemia and chlordane/heptachlor). Some significant decreased relative risks were also observed (colon cancer and aldrin; overall cancer and heptachlor). In conclusion, we did not observe any clear relationship between cancer risk and the use of OC insecticides. Our chemical‐specific findings are based on small numbers and multiple comparisons, and should be interpreted with caution; however, some observed associations (lindane and NHL, chlordane/heptachlor and leukemia) are supported by previous evidence. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

Chlordane

Heptachlor

Toxaphene

Aldrin

Lindane

Endrin

10.1002/ijc.22258

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Citations (193)

Effect of the chlorinated hydrocarbons heptachlor, chlordane, and toxaphene on retinoblastoma tumor suppressor in human lymphocytes

Toxicology Letters (1999)

Steffney E. Rought Peter M. Yau Linda F. Chuang Roy H. Doi Ronald Y. Chuang

Toxaphene

Chlordane

Heptachlor

Retinoblastoma

10.1016/s0378-4274(98)00356-7

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Citations (15)

Pesticides, Organochlorine

Pradyot Patnaik

This chapter contains sections titled: General Discussion Lindane Aldrin Dieldrin Endrin Heptachlor Chlordane Endosulfan DDT p,p′-DDD p,p′-DDE Methoxychlor Perthane Chlorobenzilate Mirex Kepone Toxaphene Strobane Chlorbenside Chlorophacinone

Toxaphene

Endrin

Heptachlor

Aldrin

Methoxychlor

Chlordane

Lindane

Endosulfan

10.1002/9780470134955.ch46

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Citations (0)

Risk of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and prediagnostic serum organochlorines: beta-hexachlorocyclohexane, chlordane/heptachlor-related compounds, dieldrin, and hexachlorobenzene.

Environmental Health Perspectives (2002)

Kenneth P. Cantor Paul T. Strickland John W. Brock David E. Bush Kathy J. Helzlsouer

Increases in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) incidence and mortality rates during the past few decades remain largely unexplained. Studies suggest that organochlorine pesticides may contribute to an increased risk of NHL. In 1974, serum samples were obtained from 25,802 participants in the Campaign Against Cancer and Stroke in Washington County, Maryland (USA), and cryopreserved for future study. We measured prediagnostic levels of chlordane, lindane (gamma-hexachlorocyclohexane), beta-hexachlorocyclohexane, transnonachlor, heptachlor, heptachlor epoxide, oxychlordane, dieldrin, and hexachlorobenzene in serum samples of 74 cases of NHL and 147 matched controls. Previously, we found an association between NHL and serum levels of total PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls), but not DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane) and related compounds. In this instance, there was no evidence of an association between NHL risk and serum levels of any of the individual lipid- and recovery-corrected organochlorines that we evaluated, nor of the summed chlordane-related compounds (transnonachlor, heptachlor, heptachlor epoxide, oxychlordane). These findings do not support the hypothesis that the organochlorine compounds included in this study are strongly linked to the development of NHL. The possibility of a weak association cannot be excluded by these data.

Chlordane

Heptachlor

Hexachlorobenzene

Hexachlorocyclohexane

10.1289/ehp.4347

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Citations (52)

Organochlorine Insecticides

Elsevier eBooks (2014)

Wen‐Tien Tsai

Endrin

Toxaphene