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 meas
ure the individual congeners. In recent years, congener-specific toxaphene
research has nourished due to analytical advances leading to the identifica
tion of several congeners, about 25 of which are commercially available, Ho
wever, the high price of these standards may inhibit toxaphene research in
some laboratories. We report here the methylene retention indexes for 28 is
olated 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 rot prac
tical.