A STUDY OF THE POSSIBLE INTERCONVERSION OF HEXACHLOROCYCLOHEXANE STEREOISOMERS ON CHICKPEA

A field trial was conducted to study (i) whether there is interconvers ion of stereoisomers of hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) on a plant and (ii ) the rate of dissipation of lindane on chickpea in a sub-tropical cli mate. The lack of formation of the beta and delta isomers on applicati on of pure alpha- or gamma-HCH showed that these stereoisomers of HCH did not interconvert on chickpea. The residues of the alpha and gamma isomers dissipated rapidly on chickpea leaves with half-lives of three and four days respectively.