CHLORDANE

a chlorinated cyclodiene that is the principal isomer formed in the preparation of a contact insecticide of the same name. Chlordane is a thick, odourless, amber liquid with a molecular formula of C10H6Cl8. The compound's accepted name is octachlorohexahydromethanoindene. The organochlorine insecticide chlordane (also called octachlor) was used extensively in agriculture from the mid-1940s through the mid-'60s. It is made by the chlorination of chlordene (hexachlorotetrahydromethanoindene), a cyclodiene having the molecular formula C10H6Cl6. The commercial insecticide contains 60 to 75 percent chlordane; the remainder consists of several compounds closely related to it, including heptachlor. Heptachlor was first observed as a minor component (about 10 percent) in the manufacture of chlordane. It is a white crystalline solid with a melting point of about 95 C and a molecular formula of C10H5Cl7 and is also known as heptachlorotetrahydromethanoindene. Chlordane and heptachlor are highly toxic to many insects, and as a class, the organochlorine compounds are considered less toxic to mammals than either the carbamate or organophosphate insecticides. But because chlordane and heptachlor are readily absorbed through the skin and can cause liver damage in laboratory animals, their use has been banned in many countries.