Lindane, one of 8 possible hexachlorocyclohexane isomers, is a white or yellowish crystalline powder with a persistent musty odor. It is a commercial insecticide mostly used on fruit and vegetable crops and against cotton insects. It is also used as a soil poison and as a toxicant for grasshoppers. It is used in Canada as a pesticide on canola crops to prevent seed rot. Its use in the U.S. is restricted under the Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974. It is also a persistent organic pollutant (POP); that is, a chemicals that does not degrade easily in the environment and can travel through air, rivers, and oceans to places far away from where it was originally released (e.g., to the Arctic). This chemical is lipophilic (it prefers to dissolve in fat rather than water) and can biomagnify in food chains where they can cause severe health effects in wildlife and humans (e.g., cancer). In the United States and in many other countries, it is used as a topical treatment for head and body lice and scabies, a contagious skin disease caused by mites. Gamma-HCH has not been produced in the United States since 1976 but it is imported as dust, powder or liquid and used as an insecticide. It is also found in lotions, creams, or shampoos to control scabies and head lice. Vapors of HCH may irritate eyes, nose and throat. In humans, the effects of breathing toxic amounts of gamma-HCH can result in blood disorders, dizziness, headaches, and possible changes in the levels of sex hormones in the blood.
Lab name:
Common molecules
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Obtained courtesy of the Cambridge Structural Database
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