It is a central nervous system stimulant with symptoms usually developing within one hour. Other symptoms in humans are more behavioural in nature such as loss of balance and somersaulting, grinding of the teeth, and hyperirritability. However another study of chronically exposed workers showed some mild differences in heart beat. The typical half-life for lindane was 400 days. Lindane is very stable in both fresh and salt-water environments.
Birds are more tolerant of high doses of lindane than are mammals.
Lindane is highly toxic to bees and to aquatic invertebrates. The compound is believed to cause birth defects in amphibians. While crops such as cauliflower and spinach had less than 0.1 ppm when grown in soil with residues of 0.1 to 0.5 ppm, carrots may accumulate high, persistent concentrations. Persistence is seen when plants are rich in lipid content. The half-life in lettuce was three to four days.