Pesticides and Chronic Diseases
William J. Rea, Kalpana D. Patel in Reversibility of Chronic Disease and Hypersensitivity, Volume 4, 2017
Insecticides are generally classified into several categories. Organochlorines include such products as lindane, chlordane, dieldrin, aldrin, hexachlorobenzene (HCB), heptachlor, heptachlor epoxide, endrin, endosulfan, dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE), benzene hexachloride (BHC), and others. OPs include parathion, malathion, diazinon, and many others.11–13 Carbamates are similar to OPs in that they interfere with cholinesterase, and they include aldicarb, carbofuran, and carbaryl. Other classes are pyrethrums, pyrethroids, pyrethrins and their chemical relatives, which include permethrin, allethrin, fenothrin, and others. Arsenicals, which include cacodylic acid, monosodium methyl arsonate, methane arsenic acid, and many others, constitute another distinct group of pesticides. Further, pesticide families include pentachlorophenol (PCP), nitrophenolic herbicides, chlorophenoxy compounds, paraquat, diquat, thiocarbamates and dithiocarbamates, and others. There are approximately 100 pesticides; each general category of some common pesticides is discussed separately. The majority have been found to trigger chemical sensitivity or propagate it.
2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-Dioxin (TCDD) and Related Environmental Antiestrogens:Characterization and Mechanism of Action
Rajesh K. Naz in Endocrine Disruptors, 2004
Organochlorine industrial chemicals have been extensively used in the production of plastics, flame retardants, dielectric fluids, pesticides, drugs, and a host of other commercial products. Some of these chemicals such as the organochlorine insecticides, which include DDT, are both highly stable and lipophilic, and trace residues have been detected as pollutants in air, water, sediments, fish, wildlife, human adipose tissue, blood, and milk.1 Other halogenated aromatic compounds such as the polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), and dibenzofurans (PCDFs) exhibit comparable widespread environmental distribution profiles.2,3 After initial identification of DDT, its metabolite DDE, and PCBs as environmental pollutants, regulatory agencies have either banned or restricted use of most persistent organochlorine compounds, and residue levels for most of these chemicals have dramatically declined over the past 20 to 30 years.1
Agrochemicals: A Brief Overview
Dongyou Liu in Handbook of Foodborne Diseases, 2018
Other organochlorines. Several other organochlorine insecticides were introduced in the late 1940s to early 1950s, and they have experienced wide use before being banned in most countries due to their persistence and environmental and human health effects. Lindane is the γ-isomer of benzene hexachloride, and remains available as a scabicide and pediculocide in lotions and shampoos, as a secondary line of treatment after pyrethroids, but has been banned from agricultural use. The primary use of chlordane was for termite control, while other compounds (e.g., dieldrin, heptachlor, and endrin) were primarily used in agriculture. All of these compounds have moderate to high acute oral toxicity; however, in contrast to DDT, they are readily absorbed through the skin. The primary target for their toxicity is the CNS, and convulsions are a prominent aspect of poisoning. These are due to the ability of these compounds to interfere with GABA-mediated neurotransmission by binding to the chloride channel, similarly to type II pyrethroids (82). These organochlorine compounds are slowly metabolized, have a tendency to bioaccumulate in adipose tissue, and are excreted in milk. Many are also inducers of microsomal biotransformation enzymes and cause liver enlargement upon chronic exposure (100). Most of these insecticides were banned in the United States at the same time as DDT; for example, aldrin and dieldrin were banned in 1975, toxaphene in 1982, and chlordane in 1988.
Methoxychlor metabolite HPTE alters viability and differentiation of embryonic thymocytes from C57BL/6 mice
Published in Journal of Immunotoxicology, 2018
Lucie Leung-Gurung, Priscilla Escalante Cobb, Faraj Mourad, Cristina Zambrano, Zachary Muscato, Victoria Sanchez, Kanya Godde, Christine Broussard
Organochlorines are a class of chemicals that persist in the environment, accumulate in humans and other organisms, and have been associated with increased risk of cancer, develop-mental defects, endocrine dysfunction, and alteration of immune competence (Meeker 2010; Caserta et al. 2011). Globally, organochlorine pesticides represent a significant and ongoing body burden (Schettgen et al. 2015) due to their lipid partitioning, bioaccumulation, and resistance to degradation, all of which contribute to their persistence. While the potential hazards of this class of chemicals were first systematically raised by Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring in 1962 (Carson 2002), the mechanisms whereby these chemicals mediate their negative effects are still not understood more than 50 years later. Moreover, for nearly two decades, investigators have called attention to the possible relationship between immune dysfunction and environmental toxicants (Ahmed et al. 1999; Ahmed 2000; Winans et al. 2011). However, the impact and mode of action of organochlorines and their metabolites on the immune system have still not been clearly elucidated (Dietert 2014; Heindel et al. 2016).
Bioanalytical strategies in drug discovery and development
Published in Drug Metabolism Reviews, 2021
Aarzoo Thakur, Zhiyuan Tan, Tsubasa Kameyama, Eman El-Khateeb, Shakti Nagpal, Stephanie Malone, Rohitash Jamwal, Chukwunonso K. Nwabufo
LLE provides a more robust clean-up than PPT. The selection of extraction solvent depends on a variety of factors, such as solubility, selectivity, chemical reactivity, and pH. The extraction solvent that works best for small molecules does not always work best for large molecules. Solvents used for peptides and proteins include chloroform, methyl-tert-butyl ether, toluene, ethyl acetate, ethyl ether, and acetone. Solvents used for organochlorine insecticides and polychlorinated biphenyls include hexane, heptane, and petrol ether (Vyviurska and Špánik 2014). Proteins and nucleic acids have historically used phenol-chloroform for LLE (Thermo Scientific 2016). Challenges with this method include time-consuming sample preparation, large reagent volume needed, and the need to perform work in a chemical hood due to the hazardous nature of solvents being used.
Dairy Consumption and Risk of Testicular Cancer: A Systematic Review
Published in Nutrition and Cancer, 2018
Virginia Signal, Stephanie Huang, Diana Sarfati, James Stanley, Katherine A. McGlynn, Jason K. Gurney
There are multiple avenues by which dairy consumption has been purported to cause TC, one of which is consumption of organochlorine (OC) compounds through dairy consumption. Dairy products are an important source of human exposure to OC (30–34). Historically, organochlorine compounds were widely used in pesticides until they were banned in many countries in the 1970s and 1980s, yet they can persist in the environment. Organochlorine compounds act as endocrine disrupting chemicals and interfere with normal hormonal functioning, although the exact process of this remains unknown. Interestingly, the studies by Giaandrea et al. (28) and Paoli et al. (29) both observed increased serum levels of organochlorine compounds among cases when compared to controls; however, this does not mean necessarily that these compounds were derived from dairy consumption.
Related Knowledge Centers
- Alkaloid
- Alkane
- Alkylation
- Organic Compound
- Terpene
- Chlorine
- 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzodioxin
- Halogenation
- Leaving Group
- Natural Product