Toxic Tuesdays

Toxaphene is a pesticide made up of a mixture of hundreds of different chemicals. It is a yellow, waxy solid that smells like pine. In the 1970s it was the most commonly used pesticide in the United States, used primarily in southern states on cotton crops. Toxaphene use was banned in the US in 1990, and banned internationally in an environmental treaty in 2001.

Although toxaphene is no longer in use, it is still in the environment today. There are hazardous waste sites containing toxaphene, and at least 68 Superfund sites are known to have it. When it enters the environment, it is most likely to be found in air, soil, or sediment at the bottom of bodies of water. It can travel long distances in air, leading to contamination of large geographic areas. Toxaphene doesn’t break down easily, so once it’s in the environment it persists for a long time. Toxaphene also bioaccumulates, so it builds up in the fatty tissues of fish and mammals that ingest it.

Today, people living near waste sites contaminated with toxaphene are the most likely to become exposed to it through breathing contaminated air, touching contaminated soil, or drinking contaminated water. Eating fish or mammals from contaminated areas can also lead to toxaphene exposure. High exposure through any of these scenarios can lead to brain, liver, kidney, and lung damage. In extreme cases, it can cause seizures and death. In studies of laboratory animals, toxaphene exposure caused liver cancer. The US Environmental Protection Agency determined that toxaphene probably causes cancer in humans as well. Banning toxaphene use was a good way to prevent widespread exposure, but toxaphene’s persistence in the environment means that people are still exposed to it today.