For less technical information please refer to the General Fact Sheet. What is chlordane?

$ Chlordane is an insecticide first registered in the United States in 1948 (1). In 1988, all uses of chlordane, except its use for fire ant control in power transformers, were voluntarily canceled in the United States (2). $ Chlordane was used on food and non-food agricultural crops, residential lawns and gardens, and against structural pests, particularly termites (2, 3). $ Chlordane is a chlorinated cyclodiene that is a mixture of closely related chemicals including chlordene, cis-chlordane, trans-chlordane, heptachlor, and nonachlor (2). Technical grade chlordane consists of over 50 compounds (4). $ Chlordane manufactured prior to 1950 was sometimes referred to as “early chlordane, ” due to variable concentrations of the unreacted intermediate hexachlorocyclopentadiene. After 1951, the percentage of this intermediate was kept below 1%, resulting in lower toxicity (3). $ Technical chlordane is a thick clear to amber liquid. It may be odorless or exhibit a mildly irritating odor (2). $ Chlordane can still be legally manufactured in the United States, but it can only be sold to, or used by, foreign countries. Although chlordane can be used to control fire ants in the United States, no products are currently registered for this use (5, 6). Why were uses of chlordane canceled