Methylene retention indexes for isolated toxaphene congeners

Toxaphene was a heavily used, broad-spectrum insecticide, which was banned in most countries in the 1980s. Early data suggested that a limited number of congeners in the technical mixture were responsible for its toxicity to insects. However, toxaphene research has historically focused on analyzing total toxaphene, largely due to insufficient analytical methodology to measure the individual congeners. In recent years, congener-specific toxaphene research has flourished due to analytical advances leading to the identification of several congeners, about 25 of which are commercially available. However, the high price of these standards may inhibit toxaphene research in some laboratories. We report here the methylene retention indexes for 28 isolated toxaphene congeners. When used in conjunction with mass spectrometry, methylene retention indexes provide an alternative method for identifying these compounds when direct comparison with standard compounds is not practical.