THE PHARMACOLOGIC ACTION OF CERTAIN ANALOGUES AND DERIVATIVES OF DDT

¹ Division of Physiology and the Laboratory of Pathology, National Institute of Health, Bethesda, Maryland

Studies were made of the acute and chronic toxicity of a series of compounds structurally related to DDT. The results indicate that the characteristic neurotoxic and hepatotoxic actions of DDT are dependent on the five halogens in the molecule. Compounds with aromatic or aliphatic chlorine alone exhibit little toxicity and none of the DDT central nervous system actions. Compounds with partial dechlorination of the ethane bridge exhibit the neurotoxic action of DDT only to a minor degree and are relatively non-toxic. The least toxic of all the compounds studied is the methoxy analogue of DDT (DMDT).

Organically bound chlorine was found in the urine of all rabbits receiving compounds with aromatic or aliphatic chlorine in the molecule, thus indicating some excretion in the urine of the compounds or their degradation products.