72-20-8

Endrin is an organochlorine compound. Endrin appears as a stable, white or beige crystalline solid. It is incompatible with strong acids and strong oxidizers and corrodes some metals.Endrin decomposes on heating above 245°C producing hydrogen chloride, phosgene. In fact, the US EPA has sharply restricted the availability and uses of many organochlorine groups of pesticides. These include DDT, aldrin, dieldrin, endrin, heptachlor, mirex, chlordecone, and chlordane, while many other organochlorines, however, remain the active ingredients of various home and garden products and some agricultural, structural, and environmental pest control products.

white or beige crystalline solid

Formerly as insecticide.

ENDRIN is a white crystalline, odorless solid dissolved in a liquid carrier. ENDRIN is water emulsifiable. ENDRIN is toxic by inhalation, skin absorption, and/or ingestion. When heated or burned ENDRIN may emit toxic hydrogen chloride and phosgene. ENDRIN is used as a pesticide.

While a mixture of parathion and ENDRIN was being blended into a petroleum solvent, an exothermic reaction occurred that caused some of the petroleum solvent to vaporize. The solvent-vapor-air mixture exploded. The mechanical agitation possibly initiated the exothermic reaction, Doyle(1973). Toxic hydrogen chloride and phosgene may be generated when solution burns. Avoid strong oxidizers, strong acids and parathion. [EPA, 1998].

ENDRIN is extremely toxic. It is rapidly absorbed through the skin. Symptoms appear between 20 minutes and 12 hours after exposure. There is evidence that ENDRIN may cause chromosomal damage. Doses of 1 mg/kg can cause symptoms. It is a suspected carcinogen. Also, it is a central nervous system depressant and hepatotoxin. Pregnant women are considered to be at special risk.

Toxic hydrogen chloride and phosgene may be generated when solution burns. Avoid strong oxidizers, strong acids and parathion.

Toxic by inhalation and skin absorption, use may be restricted. Headache, liver damage, and central nervous system impairment. Questionable carcinogen.

Exposures to endrin cause toxicity and adverse health effects. Endrin is highly toxic to humans and species of animal. The symptoms of poisoning include, but are not limited to, headache, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, incoordination, tremor, mental confusion, and hyperexcitable state. Exposures to very high concentrations of endrin and in severe cases of poisoning, symptoms include convulsions, seizures, coma, and respiratory depression. In severe organochlorine compound poisoning, symptoms include myoclonic jerking movements, generalized tonic-clonic convulsions, respiratory depression following the seizures, and coma.

A potential danger to those involved in manufacture, formulation and field application of this insecticide, avicide, and rodenticide. Pesticide not in use; TRI and/ or IUR indicates importers or manufacturers are unlikely.

If this chemical gets into the eyes, remove any contact lenses at once and irrigate immediately for at least 15 minutes, occasionally lifting upper and lower lids. Seek medical attention immediately. If this chemical contacts the skin, remove contaminated clothing and wash immediately with soap and water. Speed in removing material from skin is of extreme importance. Shampoo hair promptly if contaminated. Seek medical attention immediately. If this chemical has been inhaled, remove from exposure, begin rescue breathing (using universal precautions, including resuscitation mask) if breathing has stopped and CPR if heart action has stopped. Transfer promptly to a medical facility. When this chemical has been swallowed, get medical attention. Give large quantities of water and induce vomiting. Do not make an unconscious person vomit.

UN2761 Organochlorine pesticides, solid, toxic, Hazard Class: 6.1; Labels: 6.1-Poisonous materials

Incompatible with strong oxidizers (chlorates, nitrates, peroxides, permanganates, perchlorates, chlorine, bromine, fluorine, etc.); contact may cause fires or explosions. Keep away from alkaline materials, strong bases, strong acids (forms explosive vapors), oxoacids, epoxides, and parathion. Slightly corrosive to metal

A disposal procedure recommended by the manufacturer consists of absorption, if necessary, and burial at least 18 in deep; preferably in sandy soil in a flat or depressed location away from wells, livestock, children, wildlife, etc. Incineration is the recommended method. Consult with environmental regulatory agencies for guidance on acceptable disposal practices. Generators of waste containing this contaminant (≥100 kg/mo) must conform with EPA regulations governing storage, transportation, treatment, and waste disposal. In accordance with 40CFR165, follow recommendations for the disposal of pesticides and pesticide containers. Must be disposed properly by following package label directions or by contacting your local or federal environmental control agency, or by contacting your regional EPA office.

White, crystalline solid when pure; light tan color with faint chemical odor for technical grades. Odor threshold concentrations in air ranged from 18 to 41 ppb (quoted, Keith and Walters, 1992). Robeck et al. (1965) reported an odor threshold concentration of 9 ppb.

Insecticide, Avicide: Not approved for use in EU countries. A U.S. EPA restricted Use Pesticide (RUP). It is a persistent and acutely toxic insecticide. Endrin is an insecticide which has been used to control insects, rodents, and birds, mainly on field crops such as cotton, maize, sugarcane, rice, cereals, ornamentals, and other crops. It has also been used for grasshoppers in non-cropland and to control voles and mice in orchards. Once widely used in the U.S., most uses were canceled in 1980 and it has not been produced nor sold in the U.S. since 1986. It is not easily dissolved in water and can remain in the soil for more than 14 years.

COMPOUND 269®; EN 57®; ENDREX®; ENDRICOL®; ENDRIN CHLORINATED HYDROCARBON INSECTICIDE®; HEXADRIN®; MENDRIN®; NENDRIN®; OKTANEX®

Biological. In four successive 7-day incubation periods, endrin (5 and 10 mg/L) was recalcitrant to degradation in a settled domestic wastewater inoculum (Tabak et al., 1981). Soil. Microbial degradation of endrin in soil formed several ketones and aldehydes of which keto-endrin was the only metabolite identified (Kearney and Kaufman, 1976). In eight Indian rice soils, endrin degraded rapidly to low concentrations after 55 days. Degradation was highest in a pokkali soil and lowest in a sandy soil (Gowda and Sethunathan, 1976).
Under laboratory conditions, endrin degraded to other compounds in a variety of soils maintained at 45°C. Except for Rutledge sand, endrin disappeared or was transformed in the following soils after 24 hours: Lynchburg loamy sand, Magnolia sandy loam, Magnolia sandy clay loam, Greenville sandy clay and Susquehanna sandy clay. No products were identified (Bowman et al., 1965).
The disappearance half-lives for endrin in field soils under flooded and nonflooded conditions were 130 and 468 days, respectively (Guenzi et al., 1971). The average disappearance half-life in flooded soils under laboratory conditions was 31 days (Gowda and Sethunathan, 1976, 1977).
The percentage of endrin remaining in a Congaree sandy loam soil after 14 years was 41% (Nash and Woolson, 1967).
Groundwater. According to the U.S. EPA (1986) endrin has a high potential to leach to groundwater.
Plant. In plants, endrin is converted to the corresponding sulfate (Hartley and Kidd, 1987).
Surface Water. Algae isolated from a stagnant fish pond degraded 24.4% of the applied endrin to ketoendrin (Patil et al., 1972).
Photolytic. Photolysis of thin films of solid endrin using UV light (l = 254 nm) produced d-ketoendrin, endrin aldehyde and other compounds (Rosen et al., 1966). Endrin exposed to a hot California sun for 17 days completely isomerized to d-ketoendrin or 1,8- exo-9,10,11,11-hexachlorocyclo[6.2.1.13,6.02,7.04,10]dodecan-5-one (Burton and Pollard, 1974). Irradiation of endrin by UV light (l = 253.7 nm and 300 nm) or by natural sunlight in cyclohexane and n-hexane solution resulted in an 80% yield of 1,8-exo-9,11,11-pentachloropentacyclo[ 6.2.1.13,6.02,7.04,10]dodecan-5-one (Zabik et al., 1971). When an aqueous solution containing endrin was photooxidized by UV light at 90–95°C, 25, 50 and 75% degraded to carbon dioxide after 15.0, 41.0 and 172.0 hours, respectively (Knoevenagel and Himmelreich, 1976).
Chemical/Physical. At 230°C, endrin isomerizes to an aldehyde and a ketone. When heated to decomposition, hydrogen chloride and phosgene may be released (NIOSH, 1994) but residues containing an aldehyde (15–20%), a ketone (55–60%), a caged alcohol (5%), and other volatile products (15–20%) were reported (Phillips et al., 1962).
In water, endrin will undergo nucleophilic attack at the epoxide moiety forming endrin diol (Kollig, 1993).
At 50°C, endrin was not unaffected by the oxidants chlorine, permanganate and persulfate (Leigh, 1969).

At 25 °C: acetone (170 g/L), benzene (138 g/L), carbon tetrachloride (33 g/L), hexane (71 g/L), xylene (183 g/L) (Windholz et al., 1983). Soluble in aromatic hydrocarbons, esters, and ketones (ITII, 1986).

At 25 °C: acetone (170 g/L), benzene (138 g/L), carbon tetrachloride (33 g/L), hexane (71 g/L), xylene (183 g/L) (Windholz et al., 1983). Soluble in aromatic hydrocarbons, esters, and ketones (ITII, 1986).

Endrin (40) is 1,2,3,4,10,10-hexachloro- 1,4,4a,5,8,8a-hexahydro-6,7-epoxy-1,4-endo,endo- 5,8-dimethanonaphthalene (mp 245 dec, vp 0.022 mPa at 25 ?C) and is soluble in water to 23 μg/L. This compound is the endo,endo isomer of dieldrin, which is less stable and more toxic than dieldrin with rat LD₅₀ values of 17.8 and 7.5 (oral) and 15 (dermal) mg/kg. It was used as a cotton insecticide, but because of its high toxicity to fish, its use was restricted.