Investigations on the stability of seventeen single toxaphene components in the presence of UV-light and in an anaerobic soil environment

The degradability of seventeen important polychlorinated bornanes has been studied in the presence of UV-light at 254 nm in n-hexane and in an anaerob ic environment. The stability of all investigated compounds is similar unde r both conditions. It has been shown that the degradation of chlorobornanes primarily depends on the individual substitution pattern at the six-member ed ring. The presence of a geminal dichloro group at the ring in C2 positio n is responsible for a high lability of a certain chlorobornane whereas the alternating chlorine substitution (2-endo, 3-exo, 5-endo, 6-exo) leads to an extremely high stability.