Section 1 - CHEMICAL PRODUCT AND COMPANY IDENTIFICATION

PRODUCT NAME

O,P'-DDT

NFPA

PRODUCT USE

Isomer of DDT. Intermediate

SYNONYMS

C14-H9-Cl5, "benzene, 1-chloro-2-[2, 2, 2-trichloro-1-(4-chlorophenyl)ethyl]-", "benzene,
1-chloro-2-[2, 2, 2-trichloro-1-(4-chlorophenyl)ethyl]-", "ethane, 1, 1, 1-trichloro-2-
(o-chlorophenyl)-2-(p-chlorophenyl)-", "ethane, 1, 1, 1-trichloro-2-(o-chlorophenyl)-2-
(p-chlorophenyl)-", "1-chloro-2-[2, 2, 2-trichloro-1-(4-chlorophenyl)ethyl]benzene", "1-
chloro-2-[2, 2, 2-trichloro-1-(4-chlorophenyl)ethyl]benzene", "1, 1, 1-trichloro-2-(o-
chlorophenyl)-2-(p-chlorophenyl)ethane", "1, 1, 1-trichloro-2-(o-chlorophenyl)-2-(p-
chlorophenyl)ethane", "2, 4'-DDT", "2, 4'-DDT", insecticide

Section 2 - HAZARDS IDENTIFICATION

CANADIAN WHMIS SYMBOLS

EMERGENCY OVERVIEW

RISK

May cause SENSITIZATION by skin contact.
Limited evidence of a carcinogenic effect.
Very toxic to aquatic organisms, may cause long- term adverse effects in the
aquatic environment.

POTENTIAL HEALTH EFFECTS

ACUTE HEALTH EFFECTS

SWALLOWED

  Accidental ingestion of the material may be damaging to the health of the individual.  Organochlorine pesticides excite the central nervous system, causing shortness of breath, cough, narrowing of airways and throat spasms. In the muscles it can cause twitches, spastic movements and seizures. Headache, dizziness and confusion may result as well as a feeling of warmth. Other symptoms include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and difficulty in urination. There may be alterations in blood pressure or irregularities in heart rhythm. Delayed poisoning may occur after 30 minutes to several hours. Symptoms may include diarrhea, stomach pain, headache, dizziness, inco-ordination, "pins and needles", restlessness, irritability, confusion and tremors, progressing to stupor, coma and epilepsy-like or spastic seizures with frothing at the mouth, a contorted face, violent convulsions and limb stiffness. Tremors may spread from the face to the torso and limbs. Severe poisoning may cause continuous convulsion, fever, unconsciousness, labored breathing, rapid heartbeat and general depression; this is followed by lack of oxygen, collapse of breathing, and death. Kidney damage and inflammation and anemia has also been reported.  

EYE

  Although the material is not thought to be an irritant, direct contact with the eye may cause transient discomfort characterized by tearing or conjunctival redness (as with windburn). Slight abrasive damage may also result. The material may produce foreign body irritation in certain individuals.  

SKIN

  The material is not thought to produce adverse health effects or skin irritation following contact (as classified using animal models). Nevertheless, good hygiene practice requires that exposure be kept to a minimum and that suitable gloves be used in an occupational setting.  Open cuts, abraded or irritated skin should not be exposed to this material.  Entry into the blood-stream, through, for example, cuts, abrasions or lesions, may produce systemic injury with harmful effects. Examine the skin prior to the use of the material and ensure that any external damage is suitably protected.  

INHALED

  The material is not thought to produce either adverse health effects or irritation of the respiratory tract following inhalation (as classified using animal models). Nevertheless, adverse effects have been produced following exposure of animals by at least one other route and good hygiene practice requires that exposure be kept to a minimum and that suitable control measures be used in an occupational setting.  Persons with impaired respiratory function, airway diseases and conditions such as emphysema or chronic bronchitis, may incur further disability if excessive concentrations of particulate are inhaled.  

CHRONIC HEALTH EFFECTS

  There has been concern that this material can cause cancer or mutations, but there is not enough data to make an assessment.  Skin contact with the material is more likely to cause a sensitization reaction in some persons compared to the general population.  Limited evidence suggests that repeated or long-term occupational exposure may produce cumulative health effects involving organs or biochemical systems.  Exposure to the material may cause concerns for human fertility, on the basis that similar materials provide some evidence of impaired fertility in the absence of toxic effects, or evidence of impaired fertility occurring at around the same dose levels as other toxic effects, but which are not a secondary non-specific consequence of other toxic effects..  Exposure to the material may result in a possible risk of irreversible effects. The material may produce mutagenic effects in man. This concern is raised, generally, on the basis ofappropriate studies with similar materials using mammalian somatic cells in vivo. Such findings are often supported by positive results from in vitro mutagenicity studies.  Long term exposure to high dust concentrations may cause changes in lung function i.e. pneumoconiosis; caused by particles less than 0.5 micron penetrating and remaining in the lung. Prime symptom is breathlessness; lung shadows show on X-ray.  Exposure to organochlorine pesticides for long periods can cause multiple nervous system infections and disorders involving the brain and autonomic nerves with headache, dizziness, "pins and needles", tremor in the limbs, disturbances in nerves supplying blood vessels, pain in the bowel and stiffening of the bile duct, rapid heartbeat, hollow heart sounds and a tight pain in the chest. There can be blood problems with loss of platelets and white blood cells, change in blood cell distribution, anemia, loss of appetite and weight. There may be disturbed behavior. Some organochlorines may have female sex hormone-like effects, causing withering of the testicles, reduced fertility and disturbed sexual activity.  Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are found in a number of materials such as coal tar, tobacco smoke, petroleum and air pollution. Some substituted derivatives have been identified as extremely liable to cause cancer, especially that of the lung and genito-  urinary tract. Some jurisdictions required that health surveillance be conducted on workers occupationally exposed to PHAs.  High doses of o,p'-DDT fed to immature female rats exert clear oestrogenic effects. Males fed 1 ppm o,p'-DDT from birth had significantly heavier bodies, testes and seminal vesicles at day 112. In a another study adult male rats treated with o,p'-DDT showed decreased corticosterone formed from progesterone in the adrenals and lowered unchanged progesterone. In brain metabolism, treatment with o,p'-DDT increased dihydrotestosterone from testosterone while androstenediol decreased. The authors concluded that the effects of o,p'-DDT administration are a decrease in plasma testosterone and in androgen biosynthesis, and an increase in plasma oestradiol.