Abnormalities in the microsomal oxidases of the WHO standard reference strain of Musca domestica. (1/19)

Observations made during biochemical and toxicological studies of the housefly, in which the WHO standard reference (SR) strain was used as a standard, indicated that this strain differs from other strains in certain physiological and toxicological aspects. Experiments are described in which microsomal oxidases prepared from the standard reference strain and several other housefly strains, both susceptible and resistant to insecticides, were compared for heat stability, sensitivity to ionic strength, pH optima, and the spectral characteristics of their cytochrome P-450. In a comparison with 8 strains the SR strain microsomes were more stable at high incubation temperatures (40-47.5 degrees C). Compared to two other strains (NAIDM, susceptible, and Isolan-B, resistant) SR was more stable at low pH and more sensitive to high ionic strength. In spectral comparisons with NAIDM and Isolan-B, SR was found to contain microsomal cytochrome P-450 that differed slightly in its carbon monoxide or octylamine binding spectra. The results suggest that this strain may not provide a suitable reference in studies involving the microsomal oxidases. However, these apparent differences should not reduce the value of the SR stain as a reference in insecticide resistance studies.  (+info)

Aldrin and dieldrin: a review of research on their production, environmental deposition and fate, bioaccumulation, toxicology, and epidemiology in the United States. (2/19)

In the last decade four international agreements have focused on a group of chemical substances known as persistent organic pollutants (POPs). Global agreement on the reduction and eventual elimination of these substances by banning their production and trade is a long-term goal. Negotiations for these agreements have focused on the need to correlate data from scientists working on soil and water sampling and air pollution monitoring. Toxicologists and epidemiologists have focused on wildlife and human health effects and understanding patterns of disease requires better access to these data. In the last 20 years, substantial databases have been created and now are becoming available on the Internet. This review is a detailed examination of 2 of the 12 POPs, aldrin and dieldrin, and how scientific groups identify and measure their effects. It draws on research findings from a variety of environmental monitoring networks in the United States. An overview of the ecologic and health effects of aldrin and dieldrin provides examples of how to streamline some of the programs and improve access to mutually useful scientific data. The research groups are located in many government departments, universities, and private organizations. Identifying databases can provide an "information accelerator" useful to a larger audience and can help build better plant and animal research models across scientific fields.  (+info)

Normal-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic determination and identification of aldrin, dieldrin, and DDTs in eggs. (3/19)

A method for the routine monitoring of residual aldrin, dieldrin, pp'-DDT, op'-DDT, pp'-DDE, and pp'-DDD in eggs by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with a photo-diode array (PDA) detector is described. The lipids extracted from a whole egg are cleaned by a solid-phase extraction (SPE) ISOLUTE NH2 column with a diethyl ether-hexane (5:95, v/v) eluent. The HPLC separation is carried out using a normal-phase (LiChrosorb NH2) column, a heptane-hexane eluent (97:3, v/v), and a PDA detector. The average recoveries from fortified target compounds (0.1, 0.2, 0.3, and 0.4 microg/g, respectively) are > or = 83%, with standard deviations (SDs) between 2 and 5%. The interassay variabilities and their SDs are < or = 4.8% and < or =0.7%, with intra-assay variabilities of 2.1-3.3%. The limits of determination for these compounds range from 0.04 to 0.08 microg/g.  (+info)

Aldrin-induced locomotor activity: possible involvement of the central GABAergic-cholinergic-dopaminergic interaction. (4/19)

Aldrin (5 mg/kg/day, p.o.) under nontolerant condition, administered either for a single day or for 12 consecutive days, enhanced locomotor activity (LA) of rats. The increase in LA was greater in rats treated with aldrin for 12 consecutive days than that observed with a single dose. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the involvement of possible interactions of central GABAergic, cholinergic and dopaminergic systems using their agonist(s) and antagonist(s) in the regulation of LA in aldrin nontolerant rats. Administration of either L-DOPA along with carbidopa or bicuculline potentiated aldrin-induced increase in LA under nontolerant condition as well as LA of the control rats. Treatment with muscimol, haloperidol, atropine or physostigmine all decreased the LA of both aldrin nontolerant and control rats. Further, the application of (a) haloperidol along with bicuculline, atropine or physostigmine and (b) physostigmine along with bicuculline or L-DOPA + carbidopa significantly reduced LA but L-DOPA + carbidopa along with atropine or bicuculline increased LA of the control rats. These agonist(s)/antagonist(s)-induced decrease or increase in LA of the control rats were attenuated or potentiated, respectively, when those agonist(s)/antagonist(s) under abovementioned condition were administered to aldrin nontolerant rats. The attenuating or potentiating effects of aldrin on agonist(s)/antagonist(s) (either individually or in different combinations)-induced change in LA were greater in rats treated with aldrin for 12 consecutive days than that observed with a single-dose aldrin treatment. These results suggest that aldrin, under nontolerant condition, reduces central GABAergic activity and increases LA by activating dopaminergic system via inhibition of cholinergic activity. The treatment with aldrin for 12 consecutive days produces greater effect than that caused by a single-day treatment.  (+info)

Brain regional gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and locomotor activity: effect of long-term aldrin exposure. (5/19)

Aldrin-induced stimulation of locomotor activity (LA) under nontolerant conditions was restored to control value after 20 or more consecutive days of aldrin administration. In contrast to the inhibition of GABAergic activity with aldrin under short-term conditions as observed in our previous study, the measurement of steady-state level of GABA, the activities of its metabolizing enzymes, turnover and the specific binding of GABA to its receptor in different regions of the brain of rats treated with aldrin (2 or 5 mg/kg/day, po) under long-term (for 30 consecutive days) conditions showed no change in the GABAergic activity in any regions of the rat brain. Moreover, the studies of the interaction between neurotransmitters (using agonist(s) and antagonist(s) of the respective neurotransmitter receptors) showed that long-term administration of aldrin restored the LA to control value by upregulation of central GABAergic activity through the interaction with dopaminergic and cholinergic systems. Thus, this result suggests that long-term aldrin exposure upregulated the central GABAergic activity inhibition under short-term aldrin treatment which may be a cause of restoration of LA stimulated by the short-term aldrin administration to its control value.  (+info)

Studies on photochemical reactions of air pollutants. XV. Photoreactivity of heptachloro-3'-cyclopentenyldioxy heptachloro-2-cyclopentene formed by exposure of hexachlorocyclopentadiene to ultraviolet light in air. (6/19)

Hexachlorocyclopentadiene (HCCP, 1), one of the starting materials in the synthesis of aldrin (3), was found to be able to epoxidize aldrin (3) to give dieldrin (4) when exposed to artificial light at wavelengths longer than 290 nm. In this photochemical reaction, heptachloro-3'-cyclopentenyldioxy heptachloro-2-cyclopentene (2) was isolated as a key intermediate, which appears to be derived from the interaction between the triplet state of photo-excited HCCP (1) and triplet oxygen (3sigma(g)-), but not from that between the ground state of HCCP (1) and singlet oxygen (1delta(g)). The peroxide (2) plays an important role in the formation of dieldrin (4), because it utilized oxygen atom derived from oxygen in air for the epoxidation.  (+info)

Comparative biodegradation of alkyl halide insecticides by the white rot fungus, Phanerochaete chrysosporium (BKM-F-1767). (7/19)

The ability of Phanerochaete chrysosporium to degrade six alkyl halide insecticides (aldrin, dieldrin, heptachlor, chlordane, lindane, and mirex) in liquid and soil-corncob matrices was compared by using 14C-labeled compounds. Of these, only [14C]lindane and [14C]chlordane underwent extensive biodegradation, as evidenced by the fact that 9.4 to 23.4% of these compounds were degraded to 14CO2 in 30 days in liquid cultures and 60 days in soil-corncob cultures inoculated with P. chrysosporium. Although [14C]aldrin, [14C]dieldrin, [14C]heptachlor, and [14D]mirex were poorly mineralized, substantial bioconversion occurred, as determined by substrate disappearance and metabolite formation. Nonbiological disappearance was observed only with chlordane and heptachlor.  (+info)

Occupational exposure to organochlorine insecticides and cancer incidence in the Agricultural Health Study. (8/19)

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.  (+info)

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