WHAT IS KEPONE? Kepone is an organochlorine compound. It is a colourless solid. This compound is a controversial

insecticide related to Mirex and DDT. Its use was so disastrous that it is now prohibited in the western world, but only after many millions of kilograms had been produced. It is a nonbiodegradable polychlorinated ketone insecticide and fungicide used in the US between 1966 and 1975. It gained notoriety from its improper handling and dumping into the James River, Virginia, which was subsequently closed to fishing. Workers exposed to it have suffered neurologic symptoms suchs as nystagmus, memory loss, headaches, slurred speech, unsteadiness, incoordination, loss of weight, rash, hepatomegaly, decreased libido, sterility, chest pain, arthralgia, and the increased risk of cancer. Kepone has a 30-year environmental halflife and is also known persistent organic pollutants (POP), classified among the "dirty dozen" and banned globally by the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants as of 2011.

HISTORY Kepone is the proprietary name for decachloroocta-hydro-1,3,4,-metheno-2H-cyclobuta[cd]-

pentalene-2-one, a synthetic chlorinated insecticide. The drug was patented in the 1950s by Allied Chemical and introduced in 1958 as a virtually invincible compound to combat leaf-eating insects, ants, roaches, and fly larvae. Between 1966 and 1975, Allied Chemical, with contractor Life Sciences Products, produced Kepone at a small plant in Hopewell, Virginia, along the James River. At its highest output level, the factory produced 3,000 to 6,000 pounds of Kepone per day by operating day and night. The wastes were dumped directly into the James River. Local, state, and federal authorities overlooked safety regulations or made exceptions, in large part because chemical production was Hopewell's biggest industry.

The citizens of Hopewell discovered the effects of this dumping in 1975, when an employee of Life Sciences, who suffered from a peculiar case of uncontrollable shivering, was determined to have high levels of Kepone in his blood. Almost immediately, the plant was shut down. Studies were released demonstrating Kepone's negative effects on neurological and reproductive systems, as well as the liver, skin, and vision. Meanwhile, analysis showed that Kepone was found throughout the James, in its sediment, and all over Hopewell.

Origin of Seafood During the Kepone Scandal In December 1975, commercial and sport fishing were banned and a warning was issued to anyone

who privately caught fish in the James River or any of its tributaries. Any fish with more than 0.1 parts per million Kepone was considered dangerous to human health. Eventually this level was raised to 0.3 parts per million, where it remains today. The fishing industry had disintegrated by the time the commercial fishing bans started to lift in May 1980. Even after that, Americans, wary of the Kepone scandal, refused to buy seafood from Virginia. Hundreds of fishermen went out of business. Allied Chemical and Life Sciences, meanwhile, were sued by former workers, residents, and fisherman and found liable for more than $200 million in damages. Today, Hopewell and the James River have largely recovered from the Kepone scandal. The fishing bans have all been lifted and corrupted sediment has been covered by new sediment. The plant's toxic soil and residue were removed and buried in a salt mine.

Time Line 1966–1975 - The Allied Chemical Corporation dumps Kepone, a toxic, nonbiodegradable insecticide,

into Virginia's James River. Its effect on the environment is eventually publicized, leading authorities to shut down the Allied Chemical Corporation plant that produced the chemical and to order fishing bans and advisories.

July 24, 1975 - After employees of Hopewell's Life Sciences factory suffer from uncontrollable shivering and twitching, it is determined they have high levels of Kepone in their blood and Life Sciences voluntarily shuts down the factory.

December 1975 - As a result of the presence of the chemical Kepone, commercial and sport fishing are banned and a warning is issued to anyone who privately catches fish in the James River or any of its tributaries.

Production Total U.S. production of kepone from 1951 to 1975 was estimated at 3.6 million pounds (ATSDR

1995). Annual production at one plant in Hopewell, Virginia, reached a peak of over one million pounds per year in 1974; production ceased in July 1975 by order of the State of Virginia (Huggett and Bender 1980). Between 90% and 99% of total kepone production was exported to Europe, Asia, Latin America, and Africa (ATSDR 1995). In 2009, no producers of kepone were identified (SRI 2009), but kepone was available from eight U.S. suppliers and one European supplier (ChemSources 2009).

Uses Kepone was first introduced as a pesticide in 1958 and was used until 1978, when its use in the

United States was discontinued (NCI 1976, IARC 1979, HSDB 2009). Kepone was used as an insecticide for leaf-eating insects, ants, and cockroaches, as a larvicide for flies, and for control of insects that attack structures. Kepone was also used on bananas, non-bearing citrus trees, tobacco, ornamental shrubs, lawns, turf, and flowers.

Exposure Exposure The primary routes of potential human exposure to kepone are inhalation, ingestion, and

dermal contact. Kepone is very stable in the environment, and no degradation products have been identified. It adsorbs to particulate matter in the air, water, and soil and is removed from the atmosphere and water column by deposition and settling and from the surface soil by erosion (ATSDR 1995).

When released to air, kepone will not directly photodegrade or react with photochemically produced hydroxyl radicals (HSDB 2009). When released to water, kepone adsorbs to sediment and over time is buried by sediment accumulation (Huggett and Bender 1980). Its half-life in a model river is 3.8 to 46 years (HSDB 2009). Kepone bioaccumulates in fish and crustaceans (Carver and Griffith 1979). When released to soil, kepone will adsorb to soil particles; some leaching to groundwater may occur. In the United States, detectable levels of kepone were found in 400 samples of air, drinking water, plant and aquatic organisms, and municipal waste where kepone was manufactured (ATSDR 1995). Kepone has also been measured in the particulate matter and sediment in rivers on the island of Martinique in 2002 at concentrations of up to 57 μg/kg (Bocquene and Franco 2005).

Bananas are the major crop in Martinique, and kepone was frequently used as an insecticide on banana plantations. Concentrations of kepone in the environment near the Hopewell manufacturing site were 1% to 40% in dust collected one block from the plant, 1% to 2% in soil adjacent to the plant, and 2 to 6 ppm in soil at a distance of 1,000 meters from the plant (Luellen et al. 2006). Very high concentrations of kepone were detected in effluent from the Hopewell plant (0.1 to 1.0 mg/L) and in water from the plant’s holding ponds (2 to 3 mg/L). However, over time, concentrations in the James River (adjacent to the plant) have fallen dramatically due to settling of kepone and its eventual burial in sediment (Huggett and Bender 1980). Concentrations of kepone in bed sediments of the James River between 1976 and 1978 ranged from undetectable (≤ 0.01 μg/g) to 5 μg/g (ATSDR 1995).

Kepone concentrations in finfish in the James River in the 1980s reached a steady state below the

action level of 0.3 μg/g; however, 94% of the fish sampled since 1987 had detectable kepone concentrations (≥ 0.01 μg/g). Fishing restrictions remained in effect until 1989, when restrictions as a result of kepone contamination were removed; however, a Virginia Department of Health fish consumption advisory remained in effect as of 2006 (Luellen et al. 2006). Kepone is also a degradation product of another insecticide, mirex

(IARC 1979). Investigators have detected kepone in soil at a concentration of 0.02 μg/g of soil 12 years after mirex was applied at the rate of 1 μg/g of soil.

Additional exposure information may be found in the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry’s Toxicological Profile for Mirex and Kepone (ATSDR 1995). At the time production ceased (in July 1975), half of the workers at the Hopewell manufacturing facility exhibited neurological Report on Carcinogens, Thirteenth Edition National Toxicology Program, Department of Health and Human Services 2 symptoms. Kepone was measured in the blood of these exposed workers at levels of up to 11.8 μg/mL. In 1976, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health identified 50 facilities that processed or formulated pesticides using kepone and estimated that about 600 U.S. workers potentially were exposed to kepone (NIOSH 1976).

Effects Kepone is an insecticide and fungicide that is closely related to other chlorinated pesticides such as

DDT and aldrin. As with all such pesticides, Kepone causes lethal damage to the nervous systems of its target organisms. A poorly water-soluble substance, it can be absorbed through the skin, and it bioaccumulates in fatty tissues from which it is later released into the bloodstream. It is also a contact poison; when inhaled, absorbed, or ingested by humans, it can damage the central nervous system as well as the liver and kidneys. It can also lead to neurological symptoms such as tremors, muscle spasms, sterility, and cancer . Although the manufacture and use of Kepone is now banned by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), organochlorines have long half-lives, and these compounds, along with their residues and degradation products, can persist in the environment over many decades.

Effects of kepone Affects the central nervous system

Damages the liver and kidneys

Leads to neurological symptoms such as memory loss, loss of coordination, reduced speed of response to stimuli, reduced visual ability, altered or uncontrollable mood and general behavior, and reduced motor skills.

Sterility

cancer

Regulations Regulations

Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act

Resource Conservation and Recovery Act

Listed Hazardous Waste: Waste code for which the listing is based wholly or partly on the presence of chlordecone = U142.

Listed as a hazardous constituent of waste

Food and Drug Administration (FDA) -Action levels for chlordecone in fish, shellfish, and crabmeat range from 0.3 to 0.4 ppm.