1. CHLORDANE Banned out of FEAR or FACT?
Created by Jamie D. Palmer
Issues in Agriculture
Georgia Agriculture Education Curriculum Office
November 2005

2. What you need to know... What is Chlordane and its uses?
What is its history?
Why is this important to us?
Why was Chlordane banned?
What do the facts say?

3. What is Chlordane? C10H6Cl8 Man-made mixture of chemicals
Thick, insoluble liquid

4. What were its uses? Controlling insects on the farm and at home
Protecting lawns, gardens, and most importantly homes

5. Protecting the home...
Chlordane’s most important use was protecting homes from termite invasion

6. What is Chlordane’s history?
First commercially produced in 1947
Public concern rose
EPA began phase out in 1978 with its use on food crops
All uses were banned in 1988

7. Why is this important to us?
1. Effective pesticides being removed from our shelves
2. Insect damage to food and homes

8. Why is this important to us?
Effective pesticides are often banned
Less effective replacements
Yielding heavier, more frequent applications
No real solution to the pesticide dilemma

9. Why is this important to us?
Less effective pesticides mean…
Higher prices and ruining vegetables
Fleas in homes and on pets
Skyrocketing costs for termites damage

10. Why was Chlordane banned?
Liver problems with lab mice fed a diet of Chlordane
Chemical runoff leaving food and water supply susceptible to Chlordane

11. Why was Chlordane banned?

12. Health Effects of Chlordane * above the Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL)
Short Term
Lifetime
Liver
Kidney
Heart
Lungs
Spleen
Adrenal Glands
Cancer
Central Nervous System
Blood System

13. How are you exposed? Exposure comes from three different ways Lungs
Skin
Ingestion

14. Those most likely exposed
Who is exposed?
Those most likely exposed
to high levels are:
those who worked in the manufacture of Chlordane,
pest control workers,
farmers,
and lawn maintenance workers.

15. People are still being exposed
Who is exposed?
People are still being exposed
to Chlordane through:
Chlordane treated homes
Food
Water

16. Is exposure really a problem
Is exposure really a problem? Chlordane Exposure in the Daily Food Intake
Allowance
Infants
Teenagers
Adult
Amount
ug/kg
ug/kg
0.11 ug/kg
mg/kg
A microgram is one thousandth of a milligram
ug/kg = microgram per kilogram body weight
mg/kg = milligram per kilogram body weight

17. What do the facts say?
CDC - “No harmful effects on health have been confirmed in studies of workers who made Chlordane.”
ATSDR - “There is no link between Chlordane and cancer.”

18. Studies reveal... 4-year-old ingested Chlordane
24 men studied from a Chlordane factory
47-year-old nurseryman daily exposure
Velsicol Chemical Corporation study

19. Velsicol Chemical Corporation
Table shows US death rates compared to Velsicol death rates
Study also looked at Heart Disease, and Stroke
Showed no increase of death rates of those workers
Cancer Death Rates

20. What else raises red flags?
Rachel Carson’s book - Silent Spring
Pesticides killing birds
Painted grim picture of pesticide use
US Fish & Wildlife survey disproved her accusations

21. Problem in the application...
“The truth is that if pesticides are used according to label instructions, they are remarkably safe.” - William Robertson, director of the Washington Poison Center in Seattle
“Most people have no idea that many pesticides are extremely potent against pests, with little hazard to humans.” - Michael Potter, Urban Entomologist at University of Kentucky

22. What you know now... What Chlordane is and its uses
What is its history
Why it is important to us
Why Chlordane was banned
What the facts say

23. To sum it all up... Careful examination of pesticides
People should listen to valid research and make informed decisions before listening to sensationalist views
Pesticides are potentially risky, but if directions are followed they are rarely hazardous to humans

24. CHLORDANE
The End