Chlorothalonil (CHT, Daconil) - Eat it, barnacles!

• broad-spectrum fungicide employed to vanquish fungi that ruin such things as vegetables, lawns, and cranberries (it is added to the beds)
• also used as a biocide in combination with copper (which inhibits the growth of living things) to kill marine organisms that cause biofouling (growth on submerged surfaces) on ships and boats
• it is mixed in with the paint that is applied to hulls, such that it is released throughout the lifetime of the paint
• like a lot of chemicals, very high doses of it can kill, but is actually considered to be only moderately toxic in the acute sense due to its ability to cause severe eye and skin irritation
• studies done in rats have found that chronic exposure through food result in chronic renal (kidney) toxicity and increased risk of developing tumours
• is potentially biotransformed in the liver to a toxic glutathione conjugate (i.e. glutathione is added on to the compound to facilitate its elimination from the body) that is removed by the kidneys and expelled in the urine, which would expose them to high levels of the stuff and thus cause damage to DNA and/or protein in kidney cells
• can be classified as any of the following: chlorinated benzonitrile, chloronitrile, organochloride, or aromatic halogen

- Konstantinou IK, Albanis TA. Worldwide occurrence and effects of antifouling paint booster biocides in the aquatic environment: a review. Environ Int. 2004 Apr;30(2):235-48. Review.
- Rosner E, Klos C, Dekant W. Biotransformation of the fungicide chlorthalonil by glutathione conjugation. Fundam Appl Toxicol. 1996 Oct;33(2):229-34.
- http://extoxnet.orst.edu/pips/chloroth.htm