- dieldrin
- A chlorinated hydrocarbon used as an insecticide; may cause toxic effects in persons and animals exposed to its action through skin contact, inhalation, or food contamination.
* * *
diel·drin 'dē(ə)l-drən n a white crystalline persistent chlorinated hydrocarbon insecticide C12H8Cl6ODiels 'dē(ə)ls Otto Paul Hermann (1876-1954), andAl·der 'ȯl-dər Kurt (1902-1958)German chemists. Diels and Alder made an important contribution to organic chemistry with their development of a method for synthesizing a ring of six carbon atoms. This is now known as the Diels-Alder reaction, from which aldrin and dieldrin are derived. In 1928 Diels and Alder published their first paper on the subject. The insecticides aldrin and dieldrin were first prepared by the method which is now widely used in the synthesis of organic compounds. Diels and Alder were awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1950.* * *
n.an insecticide that attacks the central nervous system of insects and has proved useful in the control of various beetles, flies, and larvae that attack crops. Because of its persistence in and contamination of the environment, its use in the UK is now severely restricted.* * *
di·el·drin (di-elґdrin) a chlorinated hydrocarbon insecticide closely related to aldrin, used against the sheep tick Melophagus ovinus and to control vectors of insect-borne diseases, especially mosquitoes. Inhalation, ingestion, or absorption through the skin may cause neurotoxic symptoms such as tremors and convulsions that can be fatal.
Medical dictionary. 2011.