Document d0wVMwYn6ZBev1zvaxRYykre

A STUDY OF WORKERS EXPOSED TO THE INSECTICIDES CHLORDAN, ALDRIN, DIELDRIN FRANK PRINCI, M.D. CINCINNATI AND GEORGE H. SPURBECK, M.D.* PIERRE, S. D. SINCE 1946 a number of new insecticides have been developed and introduced in the United States. Three of these substances, chlordan, aldrin and dieldrin, are chlorinated hydrocarbons, which may be expected to have similar physiological actions on warm-blooded animals. Since the insecticidal powers of these compounds have made their general use desirable, it is necessary that any effects which these materials may have on workers be carefully evaluated. It is particularly important to know whether these substances if absorbed over long periods of time might produce deleterious effects. Because of these considerations, a clinical and laboratory study was undertaken, of a number of workers who had been engaged from one to three years in the manufacture and formulation of these products. To our knowledge, no previous clinical studies of humans exposed to these compounds have been made, and all existing information has been of necessity based on animal experimentation. The chemical structures and empirical formulas of the three insecti cides with which this study was concerned are as follows: Chlordan (CioHoCh) Cl Empirical indene. formula: Cl h2 Fig. 1.--Formula of chlordan. l,2,4,5,6,7,8,8-octachloro-2,3,3a,4,7,7a-hexahydro-4,7-methano- * Fellow in Industrial Medicine. This work was done with the aid of a grant from Julius Hyman and Company, Denver. From the Division of Industrial' Medicine of the University of Colorado Medical Center. 64