Toxicities and description of some toxaphene fractions: Isolation and identification of a highly toxic component

Abstract

Toxaphene was separated into 13 fractions and the toxicity of each fraction was determined. The acute toxicities (LD50) to houseflies (topical in acetone) ranged from 21 to > 246 mg/kg (toxaphene LD50 = 33 mg/kg) and the relative toxicities ranged from 0.6 to > 7.5. A similar pattern was found in mice when the toxicities of several fractions were determined. The acute toxicities (LD50, ip injection in dimethyl sulfoxide) in mice ranged from 20 to 67 mg/kg (toxaphene LD50 = 33 mg/kg) for the fractions tested.

The most toxic fraction was further separated into six subtractions and their toxicities (housefly LD50) were found to range from 10 to 74 mg/kg. The most toxic subtraction appeared to be an almost pure compound and was purified for further identification. It was found to be identical to a previously reported highly toxic C₁₀W ₁₀ Cl ₈ mixture of predominantly two components. The components were reported to be 2,2,5‐endo,6‐exo,8,8,9,10‐octachlorobornane and 2,2,5‐endo,6‐exo,8,9,9,10‐octachlorobornane. This highly toxic mixture has now been isolated independently by three research teams using different separation schemes.