Insecticide

Used pirmarily against soil insects and termites

Used against some crop pests

Used to combat malaria

Used in US on seed grain and crops [3]

Heptachlor breaks down into heptachlor epoxide

Heptachlor is breakdown product and component of chlordane

Does not dissovle readily in water

Adheres strongly to soil particles and evaporates slowly in air.

Plants absorb from soil

Bioaccumulant - build up in fatty tissue of fish and cattle

Current Status in US [3]

Under FIFRA:

Most uses cancelled by 1978, registrant voluntarily cancelled use tocontrol fire ants in undergound cable boxes in early 2000

all pesticide tolerances on food crops revoked in 1989

No production, import, export

regulated as a hazardous air pollutant (CAA)

Prioity toxic pollutant (CWA)

Heptachlor[1]

no serious health effects unless consumed in large amounts

effects aren't really known

Eat contaminated food, including fish, shellfish, dairy, meat, and poultry

Mother's breast milk

Drink water, breathe air, or touch contaminated soil at hazardous waste sites

Hazardous waste sites

Homes with heptachlor used to kill termites

[1] UNEP - Persistent Organic Pollutants: Chemical Information. - www.chem.unep.ch/pops/alts02.html

[2] EPA - Persistent Organic Pollutants: A Global Issue, A Global Response. EPA 160-F-02-001. - www.epa.gov/international/toxics/pop.htm

[3] EPA Priority PBT Profiles - www.epa.gov/opptintr/pbt/cheminfo.htm

[4] ATSDR Toxicological Profile for Aldrin and Dieldrin. September 2002. - www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxprofiles/tpw.html