Comparing the mutagenicity of toxaphene after aging in anoxic soils and accumulating in fish.

A test program was conducted to evaluate the mutagenicity of toxaphene residuals extracted from aged soils and from fish collected in creeks near a toxaphene-contaminated site. The ultimate objective was to determine if the residual toxaphene congeners were more or less mutagenic than those in technical-grade toxaphene. The study showed that the mutagenicity of the bioaccumulated toxaphene congeners in fish, expressed as colony revertants per microg of residual toxaphene, was no greater than that of technical-grade toxaphene. The mutagenic impact of the toxaphene residuals in aged soil statistically was less than that for technical-grade toxaphene. Two specific congeners, a hexachlorobornane (labeled Hx-Sd) and a heptachlorobornane (labeled Hp-Sd), were found to accumulate over time in both soil and fish extracts, but did not show increased mutagenic impacts relative to that produced by technical-grade toxaphene.