Kepone (C₁₀Cl₁₀O) is an organochlorine pesticide that was manufactured by the Allied Chemical Corporation in Virginia from the late 1940s to the 1970s. Kepone was responsible for human health problems and extensive contamination of the James River and its estuary in the Chesapeake Bay. It is a milestone in the development of a public environmental consciousness, and its history is considered by many to be a classic example of negligent corporate behavior and inadequate oversight by state and federal agencies.

Kepone is an insecticide and fungicide that is closely related to other chlorinated pesticides such as DDT and aldrin. As with all such pesticides, Kepone causes lethal damage to the nervous systems of its target organisms. A poorly water-soluble substance, it can be absorbed through the skin, and it bioaccumulates in fatty tissues from which it is later released into the bloodstream. It is also a...