Endothall (3,6-endoxohexahydrophthalic acid) is used as an

herbicide Herbicides (, ), also commonly known as weed killers, are substances used to control undesired plants, also known as weeds.EPA. February 201Pesticides Industry. Sales and Usage 2006 and 2007: Market Estimates. Summary in press releasMain page f ...

for

terrestrial Terrestrial refers to things related to land or the planet Earth, as opposed to extraterrestrial. Terrestrial may also refer to: * Terrestrial animal, an animal that lives on land opposed to living in water, or sometimes an animal that lives on o ...

and aquatic plants. It is used as an aquatic herbicide for submerged aquatic plants and algae in lakes, ponds and irrigation canals. It is used, as a

desiccant A desiccant is a hygroscopic substance that is used to induce or sustain a state of dryness (desiccation) in its vicinity; it is the opposite of a humectant. Commonly encountered pre-packaged desiccants are solids that absorb water. Desiccant ...

on potatoes, hops, cotton, clover and alfalfa. It is used as a

biocide A biocide is defined in the European legislation as a chemical substance or microorganism intended to destroy, deter, render harmless, or exert a controlling effect on any harmful organism. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) uses a sli ...

to control mollusks and algae in

cooling tower A cooling tower is a device that rejects waste heat to the atmosphere through the cooling of a coolant stream, usually a water stream, to a lower temperature. Cooling towers may either use the evaporation of water to remove heat and cool the ...

s. Endothall is a selective contact herbicide that has been used to manage submerged aquatic vegetation for over 50 years. The herbicide damages the cells of susceptible plants at the point of contact but does not affect areas untouched by the herbicide, like roots or tubers (underground storage structures). The chemical formula for endothall is C₈H₁₀O₅. Its

Chemical Abstracts Service Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) is a division of the American Chemical Society. It is a source of chemical information and is located in Columbus, Ohio, United States. Print periodicals ''Chemical Abstracts'' is a periodical index that provid ...

(CAS) name is 7-oxabicyclo .2.1eptane-2,3-dicarboxylic acid. It is an organic acid but is used as the dipotassium salt or the mono-''N, N-dimethylalkylamine'' salt. It is considered safe in drinking water by the EPA up to a

maximum contaminant level Maximum contaminant levels (MCLs) are standards that are set by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for drinking water quality.Joseph Cotruvo, Victor Kimm, Arden Calvert“Drinking Water: A Half Century of Progress.”EPA Alumn ...

of 0.1 mg/L (100 ppb). Some people who drink water contaminated above this level for many years experience stomach or intestine problems. Endothall is chemically related to

cantharidin Cantharidin is an odorless, colorless fatty substance of the terpenoid class, which is secreted by many species of blister beetles. Its main current use in pharmacology is treating molluscum contagiosum and warts topically. It is a burn agent ...

. Both compounds are protein phosphatase 2A inhibitors.

Toxicity

There is limited data on human toxicity, although cases of lethal deliberate self-poisoning have been reported with as little as a mouthful of Endothall concentrate. Features of toxicity include corrosive injury to the oropharynx and gastrointestinal tract, metabolic acidosis, coagulopathy, and multi-organ failure.

References

* * http://www.apms.org/japm/vol08a/v8p50.pdf * http://dnr.wi.gov/lakes/plants/factsheets/EndothallFactsheet.pdf {{Herbicides Herbicides Dicarboxylic acids Ethers Oxygen heterocycles Phosphatase inhibitors Group 31 herbicides

Toxicity

See also

References