1.1 What is endrin? |
1.2 What happens to endrin when it enters
the environment? |
1.3 How might I be exposed to endrin? |
1.4 How can endrin enter and leave my
body? |
1.5 How can endrin affect my health? |
1.6 Is there a medical test to determine
whether I have been exposed to endrin? |
1.7 What recommendations has the federal
government made to protect human health? |
1.8 Where can I get more information? |
References |
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August 1996 |
Public Health Statement |
for |
Endrin |
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This Public Health Statement is the
summary chapter from the Toxicological
Profile for endrin. It is one in a series of Public Health
Statements about hazardous substances and their health effects.
A shorter version, the ToxFAQs™,
is also available. This information is important because this
substance may harm you. The effects of exposure to any hazardous
substance depend on the dose, the duration, how you are exposed,
personal traits and habits, and whether other chemicals are
present. For more information, call the ATSDR Information
Center at 1-888-422-8737.
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This statement was prepared to give you
information about endrin and to emphasize the human health
effects that may result from exposure to it. The Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) identifies the most serious hazardous
waste sites in the nation. These sites make up the National
Priorities List (NPL) and are the sites targeted for long-term
federal clean-up activities. Endrin has been found in at least
120 (8.4%) of the current or former NPL sites. Endrin ketone
has been found in at least 37 sites of the current or former
sites on the NPL. However, the number of NPL sites evaluated
for endrin ketone is not known. As the EPA evaluates more
sites, the number of sites at which endrin ketone is found
may increase. This information is important because exposure
to endrin may cause harmful health effects and because these
sites are potential or actual sources of human exposure to
endrin.
When a substance is released from a large
area, such as an industrial plant, or from a container, such
as a drum or bottle, it enters the environment. This release
does not always lead to exposure. You can be exposed to a
substance only when you come in contact with it. You may be
exposed by breathing, eating, or drinking substances containing
the substance or by skin contact with it.
If you are exposed to a substance such
as endrin, many factors will determine whether harmful health
effects will occur and what the type and severity of those
health effects will be. These factors include the dose (how
much), the duration (how long), the route or pathway by which
you are exposed (breathing, eating, drinking, or skin contact),
the other chemicals to which you are exposed, and your individual
characteristics such as age, sex, nutritional status, family
traits, lifestyle, and state of health.
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1.1
What is endrin? |
This toxicological profile focuses on
endrin, but because of its close association to both endrin
aldehyde and endrin ketone, the profile includes studies with
data relevant to human exposure to these compounds when available.
Endrin is a solid, white, almost odorless
substance that was used as a pesticide to control insects,
rodents, and birds. Endrin has not been produced or sold for
general use in the United States since 1986. Little is known
about the properties of endrin aldehyde, an impurity and breakdown
product of endrin, or endrin ketone, which is a product of
endrin when it is exposed to light.
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1.2
What happens to endrin when it enters the environment? |
Endrin does not dissolve very well in
water. It has been found in ground water and surface water,
but only at very low levels. It is more likely to cling to
the bottom sediments of rivers, lakes, and other bodies of
water. Endrin is generally not found in the air except when
it was applied to fields during agricultural applications.
The persistence of endrin in the environment
depends highly on local conditions. Some estimates indicate
that endrin can stay in soil for over 10 years. Endrin may
also be broken down by exposure to high temperatures (230°C)
or light to form primarily endrin ketone and endrin aldehyde.
It is not known what happens to endrin
aldehyde or endrin ketone once they are released to the environment;
however, the amount of endrin broken down to endrin aldehyde
or endrin ketone is very small (less than 5%).
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1.3
How might I be exposed to endrin? |
Since endrin is no longer produced or
used in the United States, you can probably be exposed to
it only in areas where it is concentrated, such as a hazardous
waste site. You may be exposed to endrin in air, water, or
soil if you live near a hazardous waste site. Endrin has been
detected at 120 (8.4%) such sites. Children living near hazardous
waste sites could be exposed to endrin in contaminated soils,
if they eat dirt. Detection of endrin in ground water or drinking
water is rare. In the U.S. EPA 1989 National Pesticide in
Groundwater Study, in which ground water was collected from
areas with significant agricultural land uses as well as urban
areas, only two wells were found with detectable levels of
endrin. In wells drilled to access ground water near hazardous
waste sites, 1.3% of 156 Resource Conservation and Recovery
Act (RCRA) sites and 0.9% of 178 Comprehensive Environmental
Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA)
or Superfund sites had detectable levels of endrin in the
early 1980s. No information about the presence of endrin aldehyde
or endrin ketone in the environment was found.
You may also be exposed to endrin by
eating foods that contain endrin. Before cancellation of endrin
use, reported concentrations of endrin in domestic and imported
food samples ranged from 0.05 to 0.50 parts per million (ppm;
where 1 ppm = 1 microgram per gram (µg/g) of food).
However, no endrin was detected in food samples from a Texas
survey and only 0.084% of over 13,000 food samples were found
to contain endrin in 1989 after cancellation of endrin use.
Endrin was found in less than 1% of all food sampled by the
U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1991. Because endrin
is no longer used in the United States, residues on imported
foods are the main source of potential human exposure in food.
The levels of endrin aldehyde or endrin ketone in foods are
not known.
Endrin levels can build up (bioaccumulate)
in the tissues of organisms that live in water. In the 1986
EPA National Study of Chemical Residues in Fish, concentrations
of endrin were found in fish at 11% of 362 sites surveyed
(average 1.69 parts per billion [ppb; where 1 ppb = 1 nanogram
per gram (ng/g) of food]; maximum 162 ppb). Endrin was also
detected in 21 of 31 samples of 2 commercial shrimp species
from a Gulf Coast estuary receiving both industrial discharges,
and urban and agricultural runoff. The average concentration
was 1,070 and the maximum concentration was 9,470 ppb. Levels
of endrin have probably declined, even in such polluted areas,
since using endrin was banned.
Endrin has been detected in human breast
milk (0.02-6.24 milligrams endrin in each kilogram milk fat
[mg/kg]); this may be a route of exposure for nursing infants.
However, no studies of endrin in breast milk in United States
or Canadian populations have been conducted.
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1.4
How can endrin enter and leave my body? |
Endrin and endrin aldehyde can enter
your body when you eat foods or drink beverages or breathe
air that contain this substance, or when it comes in contact
with your skin. When endrin enters your body in any of these
ways, it is rapidly changed into other substances. Endrin
and its metabolic breakdown products are rapidly removed from
the body, usually within a few days, through the urine and
feces. There is some evidence that small amounts of endrin
may remain in the fatty tissue of your body when you are exposed
to high levels. No information is known about how endrin aldehyde
or endrin ketone leaves the body.
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1.5
How can endrin affect my health? |
Exposure to endrin can cause various
harmful effects including death and severe central nervous
system (brain and spinal cord) injury. Swallowing large amounts
of endrin (more than 0.2 mg/kg of body weight) may cause convulsions
and kill you in a few minutes or hours.
Symptoms that may result from endrin
poisoning are headache, dizziness, nervousness, confusion,
nausea, vomiting, and convulsions. Some of these symptoms
may continue for weeks after exposure to high doses of endrin.
No long-term health effects have been
noted in workers, either in factories or during field applications,
who have been exposed to endrin by breathing or touching it.
Studies in animals confirm that endrin's
main target is the nervous system, probably because the brain
and other parts of the nervous system contain much fatty tissue,
and endrin tends to stay in those tissues. Birth defects,
especially abnormal bone formation, have been seen in some
animal studies. While there are no human data on birth defects,
evidence in rodents suggests that exposure to high doses of
endrin during pregnancy could be a health risk to developing
fetuses.
In studies using rats, mice, and dogs,
endrin did not produce cancer. However, most of these studies
did not accurately evaluate the ability of endrin to cause
cancer. No significant excess of cancer has been found in
exposed factory workers, although endrin metabolites have
been detected in their urine. The EPA has determined that
endrin is not classifiable as to its human carcinogenicity
because there is not enough information to allow classification.
Endrin has also not been classified for carcinogenic effects
by the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) or the
International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).
One study in rodents suggests that exposure
to endrin aldehyde or endrin ketone may cause liver disease.
No other studies were found on how endrin aldehyde or endrin
ketone can affect your health.
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1.6
Is there a medical test to determine whether I have been exposed
to endrin? |
If you are exposed to endrin, the chemical
can be detected in your blood, breast milk, or fatty tissue.
Tests can measure endrin in the blood or fat of people recently
exposed. Endrin is cleared from the blood rapidly, so samples
should be taken within 1-2 weeks of exposure. Since special
analytical equipment is needed, these tests are not routinely
performed in doctors' offices. Although these tests can be
used to confirm that a person has been exposed to endrin,
it is not yet possible to use those tests to predict the type
or severity of any health effects that might occur. Endrin
metabolites have been found in urine (0.001-0.14 micrograms
per milliliter [µg/mL]; where 1 µg/mL = 1 ppm)
and feces of workers exposed to endrin.
No information is available on tests
for exposure to endrin aldehyde or endrin ketone.
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1.7
What recommendations has the federal government made to protect
human health? |
In order to protect people from potential
health effects, the EPA banned the production and use of endrin
in the United States in 1986. The EPA's proposed maximum contaminant
level (MCL) in drinking water is 0.0002 milligrams per liter
(mg/L; 1 mg/L = 1 ppm). The EPA has also set health advisories
which are levels of a chemical in water that are safe. The
1-day and 10-day health advisories for endrin are 0.02 mg
endrin per liter of water for both children and adults. The
longer-term health advisories for children and adults are
0.003 mg/L and 0.01 mg/L, respectively. The lifetime health
advisory for children and adults is 0.002 mg/L. The EPA recommends
an ambient water quality criteria level of 0.001 mg/L to protect
human health.
The National Institute of Occupational
Safety and Health (NIOSH) and the Occupational Safety and
Health Administration (OSHA) have established a limit of 0.1
mg endrin per cubic meter of air (0.1 mg/m³) averaged
over an 8-hour day in an occupational setting for a 40-hour
work week. In addition, NIOSH considers that a person could
escape within 30 minutes from a concentration of 2,000 mg/m³
without respiratory protection and without experiencing any
escape-impairing or irreversible health effects.
No information can be found on government
regulations for endrin aldehyde or endrin ketone.
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1.8 Where can I get more information? |
If you have any more questions or concerns, please contact
your community or state health or environmental quality department or:
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
Division of Toxicology
1600 Clifton Road NE, Mailstop F-32
Atlanta, GA 30333
Information line and technical assistance:
Phone: 888-422-8737
FAX: (770)-488-4178
ATSDR can also tell you the location of occupational and environmental health
clinics. These clinics specialize in recognizing, evaluating, and treating illnesses
resulting from exposure to hazardous substances.
To order toxicological profiles, contact:
National Technical Information Service
5285 Port Royal Road
Springfield, VA 22161
Phone: 800-553-6847 or 703-605-6000
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References |
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease
Registry (ATSDR). 1996. Toxicological
profile for endrin. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services, Public Health Service.
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