METABOLISM OF ENDOSULFAN IN MILK SHEEP

A single oral dose of 0.3 mg. per kg. of endosulfan-14C to two lactating sheep was almost completely eliminated in 22 days. About 50 % of the carbon-14 was excreted in the feces, 41 % in the urine, and 1 % in the milk. During this period the concentration in milk gradually fell to 2 p.p.b. on the 22nd day. The concentrations did not exceed the 0.03-p.p.m. level in any organ and tissue in one animal sacrificed after 40 days. The compound was not completely metabolized; unchanged insecticide was present in the feces but absent from the urine. Two main metabolic products in the urine were: 1,4,5,6,7,7-hexachloro-2,3-bis-(hydroxymethyl)-bicyclo-2,2,1-heptene-5 (endosulfan alcohol) and l-hydroxy-4,5,6,7,8,8-hexachloro-1,3,3a,4,7,7a-hexahydro - 4,7 - methanoisobenzofuran (1-α-hydroxy endosulfan ether). © 1968, American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.