Chlorinated Naphthalenes (Concise International Chemical Assessment Documents)

This book evaluates the risks to human health and the environment posed by exposures to chlorinated naphthalenes. They are a group of com-pounds based on the naphthalene ring system, but where one or more hydrogen atoms have been replaced by chlorine. There are 75 possible congeners of chlorinated naphthalenes. Commercial products are generally mixtures of several congeners and range from thin liquids to hard waxes to high melting point solids. Their main uses have been in cable insulation, wood preservation, engine oil additives, electroplating masking compounds, capacitors and refractive index testing oils and as a feedstock for dye production.. All of chlorinated naphthalenes tested are skin irritants. They can be absorbed with oral inhalative and dermal routes, with a high retention in liver and fat tissue. They have been shown to be highly bioaccumulative in fish and appear to be of moderate to high acute toxicity to aquatic organisms.