What is Toxaphene?

Toxaphene is an insecticide. According to the "ATSDR Public Health Statement on Toxaphene" (December 1990), it's a man-made mixture of 670 chemicals, that does not occur naturally in the environment. It's a yellow solid that smells like turpentine. It does not burn, but it will evaporate into the air and it will stick to soil. It is not readily soluble in water, but it will settle into lake and stream sediments and muds.

Toxaphene was primarily used in the southern United States to control insect pests on crops, to control external pests in livestock and to kill unwanted fish species in lakes. It was distributed and used on the Navajo Nation by the Bureau of Indian Affairs to control external parasites on livestock. It was banned by the US EPA in 1982, when it was shown to effect human and animal health. Since then, toxaphene has not been used on the Navajo Nation.

Toxaphene contamination is usually found as a solid in soils and sediments. It's also possible to find it as a gas in the atmosphere and as dissolved particles in water. Toxaphene is not rapidly broken down and will persist in air, soil or water for weeks to years, depending on conditions that speed up its breakdown.

How are You Exposed to Toxaphene?

You can be exposed to Toxaphene only when you come into contact with it. You may be exposed to it in the environment by breathing, eating, or drinking substances containing the chemical, or from skin contact with it. When sheep dipping was conducted on the Navajo Nation, people were exposed by direct contact with the chemical in the dip vat and by breathing the toxaphene gas coming off the dip vat water. Since sheep dipping stopped in 1986, most skin contact has been from contaminated soil around the dip vats, and most inhalation has been from dust blown from the old dip vat areas.

Since the toxaphene powder had to be mixed with water, the sheep dip vats were located near water wells. Most dip vats were built to serve the whole community, so they were usually built on Chapter House property next to the other shared community facilities, such as the local elementary school. After the horses, sheep and cattle had been dipped, the "used" dip vat water was dumped on the ground (near the well) or drained off into an arroyo (dry streambed). In this manner, the toxaphene entered the water wells and the stream sediments.

In later years, a childcare center and/or a senior center would be located on or near the abandoned dip vat areas, due to the availability of the water well and the limited amount of Chapter House acreage.

Why is This Important to You?

This information is important to you because toxaphene may cause harmful health effects and because these sites are potential or actual sources of human exposure to toxaphene. The amount of toxaphene in drinking water should not exceed 0.005 ppm (0.005 mg/L).

If you are exposed to a hazardous substance, such as toxaphene, several factors will determine whether harmful effects will occur; and the type and severity of those health effects. These factors include the dose (how much); the duration (how long); the pathway (method) by which you are exposed (breathing, eating, drinking, or skin contact); the other chemicals to which you are exposed; and your individual characteristics, such as age, gender, nutritional status, family traits, life style, and current health.

 

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