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IPEN Body Burden Community Monitoring Handbook
Pesticides
ALDRIN
Chemical Name: 1,2,3,4,10,10-Hexachloro-1,4,4a,5,8,8a-hexahydro-1,4-endo,exo-5,8-dimethanonaphthalene
(C12H8Cl6).
CAS Number: 309-00-2
Properties: Solubility in water: 27 µg/L at 25°C; vapour pressure: 2.31 x 10 -5 mm Hg at 20°C; log KOW: 5.17-7.4.
Discovery/Uses: It has been manufactured commercially since 1950, and used throughout the world up to the
early 1970s to control soil pests such as corn rootworm, wireworms, rice water weevil, and grasshoppers. It has
also been used to protect wooden structures from termites.
Persistence/Fate: Readily metabolized to dieldrin by both plants and animals. Biodegradation is expected to be
slow and it binds strongly to soil particles, and is resistant to leaching into groundwater. Aldrin was classified as
moderately persistent with half-life in soil ranging from 20-100 days.
Toxicity: Aldrin is toxic to humans; the lethal dose for an adult has been estimated to be about 80 mg/kg body
weight. The acute oral LD50 in laboratory animals is in the range of 33 mg/kg body weight for guinea pigs to
320 mg/kg body weight for hamsters. The toxicity of aldrin to aquatic organisms is quite variable, with aquatic
insects being the most sensitive group of invertebrates. The 96-h LC50 values range from 1-200 µg/L for insects,
and from 2.2-53 µg/L for fish. The maximum residue limits in food recommended by FAO/WHO varies from
0.006 mg/kg milk fat to 0.2 mg/kg meat fat. Water quality criteria between 0.1 to 180 µg/L have been published.
Source:
UNEP Chemicals, Regional Reports of the Regionally Based Assessment of Persistent Toxic Substances Program (2002)
Available from:
http://www.chem.unep.ch/pts
UNEP Chemicals 11-13, chemin des Anemones
CH-1219 Chatelaine, GE Switzerland.
IPEN Body Burden Community Monitoring Handbook - 2003 Ver. Draft 2.
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