title: The neurotoxicity of organochlorine and pyrethroid pesticides.
abstract: Organochlorine and pyrethroid compounds represent an old and a new class, respectively, of insecticides. Organochlorines such as DDT, dieldrin, or chlordecone, have been banned, primarily because of environmental issues. DDT is still used in certain countries to fight malaria-bearing mosquitoes, while lindane still finds some limited used against head lice. In contrast, pyrethroids find widespread use because of their efficacy, low environmental persistence, and relatively low mammalian toxicity. Like all insecticides, organochlorines and pyrethroids target the nervous system of insects and of nontarget species. All pyrethroids and DDT interact with the sodium channel; by keeping it open longer, they increase the likelihood of action potentials developing, thus creating a condition of hyperexcitability, whose main clinical sign is tremors. Most other organochlorines (except chlordecone), as well as certain (type II) pyrethroids, block the chloride channels of the GABA-A receptor, and cause seizures. Evidence of an association between exposure to organochlorine and pyrethroid insecticides and neurodegenerative diseases (e.g., Parkinson's disease) is weak, at best.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA and Department of Neuroscience, University of Parma, Parma, Italy. Electronic address: lgcosta@u.washington.edu.
authors.forename: Lucio G
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Costa
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D006843:Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated; D007306:Insecticides; D020258:Neurotoxicity Syndromes / Q000209:etiology*; D011722:Pyrethrins
chemical_list: D006843:Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated; D007306:Insecticides; D011722:Pyrethrins
keywords: DDT; GABA(A) receptors; Parkinson's disease; chlordecone; convulsions; dieldrin; lindane; organochlorine insecticides; pyrethroids; sodium channels; tremors