1,2-Dibromo-3-chloropropane
IUPAC name 1,2-Dibromo-3-chloropropane
Identifiers
Abbreviations	DBCP
CAS number	96-12-8 Y
ChemSpider	7008 Y
UNII	96K0FD4803 Y
KEGG	C14336 Y
Jmol-3D images	Image 1
SMILES BrC(CBr)CCl
InChI InChI=1S/C3H5Br2Cl/c4-1-3(5)2-6/h3H,1-2H2 Y Key: WBEJYOJJBDISQU-UHFFFAOYSA-N Y InChI=1/C3H5Br2Cl/c4-1-3(5)2-6/h3H,1-2H2 Key: WBEJYOJJBDISQU-UHFFFAOYAN
Properties
Molecular formula	C3H5Br2Cl
Molar mass	236.33 g mol−1
Hazards
GHS pictograms	[1]
GHS hazard statements	H301 - H340 - H350 - H360 - H373 - H412[1]
GHS precautionary statements	P201 - P273 - P301+P310 - P308+P313[1]
Y (verify) (what is: Y/N?) Except where noted otherwise, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °C, 100 kPa)
Infobox references

1,2-Dibromo-3-chloropropane, (dibromochloropropane) better known as DBCP, is the active ingredient in the nematicide Nemagon, also known as Fumazone. It is a soil fumigant formerly used in American agriculture. In mammals it causes male sterility at high levels of exposure. After discovery of its deleterious health effects on humans, the compound was banned from use in 1979 by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).^[2] The continuing presence of the chemical as a contaminant in ground water remains a problem for many communities for years after end of use.

Uses[link]

• Until 1977, DBCP was used as a soil fumigant and nematocide on over 40 different crops in the United States. It fights pests that attack the roots of fruit trees and boosts the weight of harvests by 20 percent.^[3] From 1977 to 1979, EPA suspended registration for all DBCP-containing products except for use on pineapples in Hawaii. In 1985, EPA issued an intent to cancel all registrations for DBCP, including use on pineapples. Subsequently, the use of existing stocks of DBCP was prohibited.
• DBCP is used as an intermediate in the synthesis of organic chemicals.

Sources and potential exposure[link]

• Human exposure to DBCP could result from the ingestion of contaminated drinking water and food.
• Human exposure could also result from inhalation and / or skin contact with the product.
• In the past, release of DBCP to the environment occurred primarily from its fumigant and nematocide uses; because of the cancellation of all DBCP uses, environmental exposure is expected to decline with time.

Examples of persistence[link]

DBCP residues have persisted in contaminated soil and groundwater long after applications have ceased. For example in agricultural areas around Turlock in the Central Valley of California, DBCP was applied to crops in the 1970s. As late as 1989, DBCP persistence was reported in groundwater that was previously used for beneficial purposes, and numerous nearby wells had to be shut down at that time.^[4]

Lawsuits[link]

Workers at the Dow Chemical plant producing DBCP were made sterile by exposure to DBCP. These male reproductive effects were consistent with animal experiments showing that DBCP sterilizes rabbits. One contract worker at the production plant successfully sued the company. Most workers remained with the company and in a company sponsored medical program until the facility was sold in 1987. At that time, some of the workers did file suit against the company. However, the suit was denied due to "statute of limitations" issues.

Most domestic uses of the chemical were banned in 1977. Amid growing concerns over DBCP's effects on male workers, Dow ceased production and reclaimed DBCP that had been shipped to its users.

However, despite warnings from Dow about its health effects, the Dole Food Company, which was using the chemical on its banana plantations in Latin America, threatened to sue Dow if it stopped DBCP shipments. Dow then shipped half a million gallons of DBCP to Dole, much of it reclaimed from other users. Plantation workers who became sterile or were stricken with other maladies subsequently sued Dow and Dole in Latin American courts, alleging that their ailments were caused by DBCP exposure. Although the courts agreed with the workers and awarded them over $600 million in damages, they were unable to collect payments from the companies. A group of workers then filed lawsuits in the United States, and on November 5, 2007, a Los Angeles jury awarded them 3.2 million dollars.^[5] On July 15, 2010, that judgment was thrown out after the Court presiding over the case found that the claims were part of "a massive fraud perpetrated on the court."^[6] On April 23, 2009, a Los Angeles judge also threw out two similar cases against Dole and Dow Chemical due to fraud and extortion by lawyers in Nicaragua recruiting fraudulent plaintiffs to make claims against the company.^[7] The ruling casts doubt on $2 billion in judgments in similar lawsuits.^[8]

Workers in the Ivory Coast using the Alien Tort Claims Act, and claiming sterility, crimes against humanity, and genocide, sued (in Abagninin v. AMVAC Chemical Corp. [No. 07-56326]), these manufacturers of DBCP: Amvac Chemical, Dow Chemical, Shell Oil Company, as well as Dole Food Company, who used it on overseas crops, but never used it in the Ivory Coast. The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled against the workers in September 2008, stating that the plaintiffs did not show that the defendants had "specific intent" to intend harm against the workers and the citizens of the country. To be found guilty of genocide the defendant must have knowingly set out to commit the offense.^[9][10]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Article about Nemagon use in Nicaragua
• ATSDR ToxFAQs
• International Chemical Safety Card

Barry Commoner (born May 28, 1917) is an American biologist, college professor, and politician. He ran for president of the United States in the 1980 US presidential election on the Citizens Party ticket. He was also editor of Science Illustrated magazine.

Biography[link]

Commoner was born in Brooklyn. He received his bachelor's degree in zoology from Columbia University (1937) and his master's and doctoral degrees from Harvard University (1938, 1941)."^[1] After serving as a lieutenant in the United States Navy during World War II, he moved to St. Louis where became a professor of plant physiology at Washington University. He taught there for 34 years and during this period, in 1966, he founded the Center for the Biology of Natural Systems to study "the science of the total environment".^{[citation needed]}

In the late 1950s, Commoner became well known for his opposition to nuclear testing. He went on to write several books about the negative ecological effects of above-ground nuclear testing. In 1970 he received the International Humanist Award from the International Humanist and Ethical Union.

In his 1971 book The Closing Circle, a bestseller, Commoner suggested that the American economy should be restructured to conform to the unbending laws of ecology.^[2] For example, he argued that polluting products (like detergents or synthetic textiles) should be replaced with natural products (like soap or cotton and wool).^[2] This book was one of the first to bring the idea of sustainability to a mass audience.^[2] Commoner suggested a left-wing, eco-socialist response to the limits to growth thesis, postulating that capitalist technologies were chiefly responsible for environmental degradation, as opposed to population pressures. He had a long running debate with Paul R. Ehrlich, author of The Population Bomb and his followers, arguing that they were too focused on overpopulation as the source of environmental problems, and that their proposed solutions were politically unacceptable because of the coercion that they implied, and because the cost would fall disproportionately on the poor. He believed that technological, and above all social development would lead to a natural decrease in both population growth and environmental damage.^[3]

Commoner published another bestseller in 1976, The Poverty of Power.^[2] In that book, he addressed the "Three Es" that were plaguing the United States in the 1970s: "First there was the threat to environmental survival; then there was the apparent shortage of energy; and now there is the unexpected decline of the economy."^[4] He argued that the three issues were interconnected: the industries that used the most energy had the highest negative impact on the environment; the focus on non-renewable resources as sources of energy meant that those resources were growing scarce, thus pushing up the price of energy and hurting the economy.^[2] Towards the book's end, Commoner suggests that the problem of the Three Es is caused by the capitalistic system and can only be solved by replacing it with some sort of socialism.^[2]

In 1980, he founded the Citizens Party to serve as a vehicle for his ecological message, and he ran for President of the United States in the 1980 US Election. His official running mate was La Donna Harris, Native-American wife of Fred Harris, the former Democratic Senator from Oklahoma, although she was replaced on the ballot in Ohio by Wretha Hanson.^[5][6] His candidacy for President on the Citizens Party ticket won 233,052 votes (0.27% of the total).^[7] After his unsuccessful bid, Commoner returned to New York City, and moved the Center for the Biology of Natural Systems to Queens College. He stepped down from that post in 2000, and is now a senior scientist at Queens. He is a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and has a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame.

Four Laws of Ecology[link]

One of Commoner's lasting legacies is his four laws of ecology, as written in The Closing Circle in 1971. The four laws are:

1. Everything is Connected to Everything Else. There is one ecosphere for all living organisms and what affects one, affects all.

2. Everything Must Go Somewhere. There is no "waste" in nature and there is no “away” to which things can be thrown.

3. Nature Knows Best. Humankind has fashioned technology to improve upon nature, but such change in a natural system is, says Commoner, “likely to be detrimental to that system.”

4. There Is No Such Thing as a Free Lunch. Exploitation of nature will inevitably involve the conversion of resources from useful to useless forms.

Writings[link]

• Science and Survival. New York : Viking, 1966.
• The Closing Circle: Nature, Man, and Technology. New York : Knopf, 1971.
• The Poverty of Power: Energy and the Economic Crisis. New York : Random House, 1976.
• The Politics of Energy. New York : Knopf, 1979.
• Making Peace With the Planet. New York : Pantheon, 1990.

See also[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Barry Commoner

	Biography portal
	United States Navy portal

References[link]

• Contemporary Authors. Detroit : Gale, 2000.
• Who's Who in America. Chicago : Marquis, 2004.

Further reading[link]

Michael Egan: Barry Commoner and the science of survival. The remaking of American Environmentalism, Cambridge, Mass. and London: MIT Press, 2007

External links[link]

• Interview with Richard Yeh of City University of New York (CUNY) Radio^{[dead link]}
• Key Participants: Barry Commoner - Linus Pauling and the International Peace Movement: A Documentary History

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