Epidemic kepone poisoning in chemical workers

• Published in: American journal of epidemiology Vol. 107; no. 6; p. 529
• Main Authors: Cannon, S B, Veazey, Jr, J M, Jackson, R S, Burse, V W, Hayes, C, Straub, W E, Landrigan, P J, Liddle, J A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.06.1978
• Subjects: Chemical Industry; Chlordecone - blood; Chlordecone - chemical synthesis; Chlordecone - poisoning; Environmental Exposure; Female; Humans; Insecticides - chemical synthesis; Insecticides - poisoning; Male; Occupational Diseases - diagnosis; Occupational Diseases - epidemiology; Pesticides - chemical synthesis; Poisoning - diagnosis; Virginia; Virginia; Economic Factors; Epidemics; Central Nervous System Effects; Occupations > complications; Human Resources; Morbidity; Diseases
• ISSN: 0002-9262
• DOI: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a112572

From March 1974 through July 1975, 76 (56%) of 133 persons who had worked at a pesticide plant that produced Kepone, a chlorinated hydrocarbon insecticide, contracted a previously unrecognized clinical illness characterized by nervousness, tremor, weight loss, opsoclonus, pleuritic and joint pain, and oligospermia. Illness incidence rates for production workers (64%) were significantly higher than for nonproduction personnel (16%). The mean blood Kepone level for workers with illness was 2.53 ppm and for those without disease 0.60 ppm (p less than 0.001). Blood Kepone levels in current workers (mean, 3.12 ppm) were higher than those in former employees (1.22 ppm). Blood Kepone levels for workers in nearby businesses and for residents of a community within 1.6 km of the plant ranged from undetectable to 32.5 ppb. Illness attributable to Kepone was found in two wives of Kepone workers; there was no apparent association between frequency of symptoms and proximity to the plant in the survey of the community population.