How can heptachlor and heptachlor epoxide affect my health?
Heptachlor and heptachlor epoxide are clearly toxic to humans and animals and can damage the nervous system. There are some human data on brief exposures to high levels. A few human case reports showed that people who accidentally swallowed pesticide that contained heptachlor, or who spilled pesticide on their clothes became dizzy, confused, or had convulsions. Most of what we know about the health effects of these pesticides comes from studies on mice and rats fed heptachlor and heptachlor epoxide in the food or water. Very high levels for short periods produce serious liver problems. Mice had trouble walking and rats developed tremors. High levels of heptachlor in the feed for several weeks damaged the livers of rats and the livers and adrenal glands of mice. We do not know if heptachlor or the epoxide affect the ability of men or women to have children. Animals that ate food containing heptachlor before and/or during pregnancy had smaller litters or were unable to reproduce. Some of
