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Hexachlorocyclohexane: persistence, toxicity and decontamination

  • Namita Nayyar , Naseer Sangwan , Puneet Kohli , Helianthous Verma , Roshan Kumar , Vivek Negi , Phoebe Oldach , Nitish Kumar Mahato , Vipin Gupta and Rup Lal EMAIL logo
Published/Copyright: March 13, 2014

Abstract

Hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH), a persistent organochlorine insecticide, has been extensively used in the past for control of agricultural pests and vector borne diseases. The use of HCH has indeed accrued benefits, however the unusual production of the insecticidal isomer; γ-HCH (lindane) and unregulated disposal of HCH muck has created various dumpsites all over the world, leading to serious environmental concerns. HCH isomers have been ranked as possible human carcinogens and endocrine disruptors with proven teratogenic, mutagenic and genotoxic effects, hence making its decontamination mandatory. Efforts in this direction have led to the isolation of various HCH degrading bacteria from the dumpsites, reflecting their role in HCH bioremediation. This review summarizes the problem of environmental persistence of HCH isomers along with their toxicity and possible solutions for their decontamination.


Corresponding author: Rup Lal, Indian Network of Soil Contamination Research, Molecular Biology Laboratory, Department of Zoology, University of Delhi, Delhi 110007, India, Tel.: +919810785766, E-mail:

Acknowledgements

The work was supported by grants from the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India, under project BT/PR3301/BCE/8/875/11, University of Delhi/Department of Science and Technology Promotion Of University Research and Scientific Excellence DU DST – PURSE grant and National Bureau of Agriculturally Important Microorganisms (NBAIM) AMAAS/2006-07/NBAIM/CIR and All India Network Project Soil Biodiversity- Biofertilizer (ICAR). N.N., N.S., P.K., H.V., R.K., V.N., P.O., N.K.M., V.G., gratefully acknowledge the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), The University Grants Commission (UGC) New Delhi, NBAIM and the Fulbright Program for providing research fellowships.

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Received: 2014-1-16
Accepted: 2014-1-16
Published Online: 2014-3-13
Published in Print: 2014-4-1

©2014 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin/Boston

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