UNITED
STATES
ENVIRONMENTAL
PROTECTION
AGENCY
WASHINGTON,
D.
C.
20460
OFFICE
OF
PREVENTION,
PESTICIDES
AND
TOXIC
SUBSTANCES
February
4,2003
MEMORANDUM
SUBJECT:
Review
of
PCNB
Poisoning
Incident
Data
Chemical:
#
056502
FROM:
Ruth
H.
Allen,
Ph.
D.,
M.
P.
H.,
Environmental
Epidemiologist
Chemistry
and
Exposure
Branch
Health
Effects
Division
(
7509C)

THROUGH:
Francis
B.
Suhre,
Senior
Scientist
Chemistry
and
Exposure
Branch
1
Health
Effects
Division
(
7509C)

TO:
Diana
Locke,
Risk
Assessor
Reregistration
Branch
2
Health
Effects
Division
(
7509C)

BACKGROUND
In
response
to
the
request
that
Health
Effects
Division
Epidemiology
Group
review
the
incident
data
on
PCNB,
the
following
data
bases
were
reviewed
for
the
poisoning
incident
data
on
the
active
ingredient
cacodylic
acid.

1)
OPP
Incident
Data
System
(
IDS)
­
reports
of
incidents
from
various
sources,
including
required
Federal
Insecticide
Fungicide
and
Rodenticide
Act
(
FIFRA)
Section
6
(
a)
(
2)
registrants,
other
federal
and
state
health
and
environmental
agencies
and
individual
consumers,
submitted
to
OPP
since
1992.
Reports
submitted
to
the
Incident
Data
System
represent
anecdotal
reports
or
allegations
only,
unless
otherwise
stated.
Typically
no
conclusions
can
be
drawn
implicating
the
pesticide
as
a
cause
of
any
of
the
reported
health
effects.
Nevertheless,
sometimes
with
enough
cases
and/
or
enough
documentation
risk
mitigation
measures
may
be
suggested.

2)
American
Association
of
Poison
Control
Centers
(
AAPCC)
­
as
the
result
of
Data­
Call­
Ins
issued
in
1993,
OPP
received
Poison
Control
Center
data
covering
the
years
1985
through
1992
for
28
organophosphate
and
carbamate
chemicals.
Most
of
the
national
2
Poison
Control
Centers
(
PCCs)
participate
in
a
national
data
collection
system,
the
Toxic
Exposure
Surveillance
System
which
obtains
data
from
about
70
centers
at
hospitals
and
universities.
PCCs
provide
telephone
consultation
for
individuals
and
health
care
providers
on
suspected
poisonings,
involving
drugs,
household
products,
pesticides,
etc.

3)
California
Department
of
Food
and
Agriculture
(
replaced
by
the
Department
of
Pesticide
Regulation
in
1991)
­
California
has
collected
uniform
data
on
suspected
pesticide
poisonings
since
1982.
Physicians
are
required,
by
statute,
to
report
to
their
local
health
officer
all
occurrences
of
illness
suspected
of
being
related
to
exposure
to
pesticides.
The
majority
of
the
incidents
involve
workers.
Information
on
exposure
(
worker
activity),
type
of
illness
(
systemic,
eye,
skin,
eye/
skin
and
respiratory),
likelihood
of
a
causal
relationship,
and
number
of
days
off
work
and
in
the
hospital
are
provided.

4)
National
Pesticide
Telecommunications
Network
(
NPTN)
­
NPTN
is
a
toll­
free
information
service
supported
by
OPP.
A
ranking
of
the
top
200
active
ingredients
for
which
telephone
calls
were
received
during
calendar
years
1984­
1991,
inclusive
has
been
prepared.
The
total
number
of
calls
was
tabulated
for
the
categories
human
incidents,
animal
incidents,
calls
for
information,
and
others.

PCNB
REVIEW
I.
Incident
Data
System(
IDS)

There
are
no
data
in
the
Incident
Data
System
on
PCNB
(
pentachloronitrobenzene).
PCNB
is
a
substituted
benzene
compound.

II.
American
Association
of
Poison
Control
Centers
(
AAPCC)

According
to
the
Recognition
and
Management
of
Pesticide
Poisoning,
5
th
edition,
symptoms
of
prolonged
exposure
to
PCNB
can
include:
skin
sensitization
and
irritation,
conjunctivitis
and
keratitis
following
eye
contamination.
Systemic
poisoning
has
not
been
reported.
Clearance
is
chiefly
via
the
liver
and
biliary
excretion.

For
the
reporting
period
1993­
1998,
there
were
41
cases
reported
in
the
AAPCC
surveillance
systems.
There
were
21
symptomatic
cases,
including
6
ranked
moderate.
Of
the
41
cases,
15
were
seen
in
a
health
care
facility,
and
1
was
hospitalized.
3
Of
21
symptomatic
cases,
18
were
adults,
including
four
65
years
of
age
or
older,
two
were
tens
and
1
was
a
child.
There
were
a
range
of
symptoms
reported:
dermal
@
7
related
and
2
unknown
if
related,
GI
@
4
related
and
4
unknown
if
related,
neurologic
@
9
related
and
6
unknown
if
related,
and
occular
@
6
related
and
1
unknown
if
related.

III.
California
Pesticide
Illness
Surveillance
Program
Case
reports
are
described
in
investigation
by
the
Worker
Health
and
Safety
Branch
or
the
Department
of
Pesticide
Regulations
of
the
California
Environmental
Protection
Agency.
From
1982­
1997,
there
are
a
total
of
thirty
PCNB
case
reports
in
the
California
Pesticide
Illness
Surveillance
Program.
Many
of
these
include
PCNB
in
mixtures
with
other
pesticides.
Of
the
seven
case
reports
that
are
for
PCNB
alone,
most
are
older
cases
and
related
to
eye
contamination.
California
ranked
two
case
reports
as
definite,
one
as
probable,
and
four
as
possible.
Symptoms
are
more
varied
for
mixtures
and
are
not
reported
here.
The
following
highlights
provide
some
perspective
on
the
PCNB
only
case
reports:

(
1)
In
Case
82­
917
(
Definite),
a
worker
was
cleaning
a
pump
used
to
apply
chemicals
to
seeds
when
a
hose
ruptured.
Chemical
spashed
in
the
eyes
of
the
worker,
and
the
worker
reported
mild
conjunctivitis
without
days
off
work.

(
2)
In
Case
82­
2138/
2139
(
Possible),
two
workers
experienced
headache
and
stomach
cramps
while
unloading
a
truck
load
of
wheat
previously
treated
with
fungicide.
There
was
one
day
off
work
as
a
results
of
this
incident.

(
3)
In
Case
83­
2371
(
Possible),
a
worker
applying
PCNB
on
turf
by
hand
experienced
nausea
and
chest
pounding
with
2
days
off
work.

(
4)
In
Case
88­
50,
(
Probable),
a
worker
applied
material
with
a
rotary
spreader,
without
required
eye
protection.
Following
the
material
accidently
getting
into
the
eyes,
the
worker
experienced
chemical
conjunctivitis
resulting
in
one
day
off
work.

(
5)
In
Case
95­
978
(
Definite),
a
mixer/
loader
who
was
pouring
powder
into
a
tank,
spilled
the
powder.
The
wind
blew
the
material
into
the
eyes,
and
the
worker
experienced
redness,
irritation,
watering
and
blurry
vision
of
the
eyes,
resulting
in
2
days
off
work.

(
6)
In
Case
98­
1509
(
Possible),
a
worker
experienced
itchy
rash
on
the
hands,
face
and
chest
while
planting
treated
bulbs,
with
no
days
off
work.
She
was
reassigned
and
had
no
further
problems.
4
IV.
National
Pesticide
Telecommunication
Network
(
NPTN)

In
the
1984­
1991
inclusive
NPTN
ranking
of
the
top
200
active
ingredients,
PCNB
is
164
in
the
NPTN
ranking
with
grand
totals
of
16
human
incidents
and
5
animal
incidents,
among
105
calls,
24
incidents
and
3
others.

cc:
Correspondence
PCNB
(
chemical:
056502)
Jerome
Blondell­
CEB
7509­
C
(
epidemiology
group
team
leader)
Ruth
Allen­
CEB
7509­
C
