Liver Weight Response to Extended Chlordecone Exposure

Details

• Personal Author:
  Schutzmann RL ; Swartz WJ
• Description:
  Chlordecone (Kepone) is a chlorinated hydrocarbon pesticide that has been shown to be both a neurotoxin and a reproductive toxin (Epstein 1978). Although it is no longer manufactured in the United States, since its use was banned in 1977, it is a useful agent to study, since much research has centered on this agent and since it possesses many of the characteristics of pesticides employed commercially today. Most attention has been directed toward the effects of chlordecone on the reproductive and nervous systems, whereas only a comparatively few studies have reported its hepatotoxic effects. Hepatomegaly was reported in human males exposed to chlordecone (Lloyd 1975). Laboratory animal studies have reported enlarged livers in chlordecone-treated animals (Eroschenko and Wilson 1975). Chlordecone has been shown to impair biliary excretion function (Curtis and Mehendale 1979) and to inhibit liver mitochondrial ATPase (Desaiah et al. 1977). However, most of the liver studies have either been of short duration or have consisted of exposing the animals to chlordecone in the diet continuously throughout the duration of the experiment. This latter fact makes it difficult to determine the exact amount of pesticide ingested. Of primary concern is whether a female, who is exposed to a chemical agent such as chlordecone in the workplace, not continuously, but for five consecutive days at a time for an extended period of time, would suffer ill effects. Swartz and Schutzmann (1986) have recently shown that mice exposed to chlordecone for either two or four weeks do exhibit an increase in liver weight and in the amount of Kepone incorporated into the liver, however, such effects are reversible once chlordecone exposure ceases. The purpose of this study is to determine the response of the liver to specific doses of chlordecone for five consecutive days/week for periods of up to ten weeks. An understanding of the liver response to this regimen of exposure is necessary because this timetable best reflects the occupational exposure that might occur. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Insecticides Liver Nervous System Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Chlorinated Hydrocarbon Pesticides Hepatotoxicity Hepatotoxins Liver Damage Liver Function Neurotoxins Occupational Exposure Pesticides And Agricultural Chemicals
• ISSN:
  0007-4861
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Louisiana ; Mississippi ; OSHA Region 4 ; OSHA Region 6
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  39
• Issue:
  4
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20060215
• Citation:
  Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 1987 Oct; 39(4):615-621
• Contact Point Address:
  William J. Swartz, Department of Anatomy, Louisiana State University Medical Center, New Orleans, Louisiana 70112-1393
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1988
• Performing Organization:
  Louisiana State University, School of Medicine, Department of Anatomy, New Orleans, Louisiana
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  19790401
• Source Full Name:
  Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology
• End Date:
  19980831
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:0752d306f0273402a14795e9a76af34982ed66392c051736cb8cece9bd0d0fafbd427edfe5ee0ade4936fa23db628ce18a9fc85f4dde8a6afef1cce10c7f3f8b
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/224188/cdc_224188_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 358.46 KB ]