chlordecone

American  

[klawr-di-kohn, klohr-] / ˈklɔr dɪˌkoʊn, ˈkloʊr- /

noun

1. a highly toxic pesticide, C 10 H 10 O, causing nerve damage in humans, that is believed to contaminate waterways: no longer widely used.

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Etymology

Origin of chlordecone

First recorded in 1970–75; chlor- ² + dec- + (ket)one

Example Sentences

But they also asserted that even in the 1990s, scientists had not established links between chlordecone and illnesses in people.

From Seattle Times

Other French research links chlordecone exposure to preterm births.

From Seattle Times

Meanwhile, officials continue testing the islanders for free to detect possible traces of chlordecone in their blood.

From Seattle Times

The judges in Paris described the use of chlordecone from 1973-1993 as a scandalous “environmental attack whose human, economic and social consequences affect and will affect for many years the daily life of the inhabitants” of the two French Caribbean islands.

From Seattle Times

Chlordecone, also known as kepone, was patented in the 1950s by scientists working for Allied Chemical, a U.S. company based in New Jersey now called Allied Corporation, and millions of pounds of the pesticide were produced, nearly all of it exported for use outside the United States.

From Seattle Times