Cambodia Bans Endosulfan

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Guess which country hasn't banned it and uses millions of pounds of it annually?

F.

 

http://www.panna.org/resources/panups/panup_20030505.dv.html

 

Cambodia Bans Endosulfan

 

May 5, 2003

Cambodia has joined the growing list of countries that have banned use of the

pesticide endosulfan. On March 21, 2003 the Cambodian Minister of Agriculture,

Fisheries and Forests banned the highly dangerous pesticide that is responsible

for accidental deaths and widespread illness and environmental contamination

around the world.

 

Classified as an organochlorine (the same family of pesticides as DDT and

dieldrin), endosulfan and its breakdown products persist in the environment,

with an estimated half-life of nine months to six years. The pesticide is known

to bioaccumulate in humans and other animals, collecting particularly in the

liver, kidneys and fatty tissue. There is also strong evidence that it is an

endocrine disrupting chemical.

 

As a neurotoxin, endosulfan is used primarily to kill insects and mites on crops

including tea, coffee, cotton, fruits, vegetables, rice and grains. An estimated

1.38 million pounds of the pesticide are applied every year in the U.S.,

according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA).

 

US EPA rates endosulfan as Category Ib pesticide--highly hazardous with

extremely high acute toxicity. Endosulfan is readily absorbed by the stomach and

lungs, and through the skin. Symptoms of acute endosulfan exposure include

central nervous system disorders such as dizziness, vomiting, diarrhea,

breathing difficulties, convulsions, and loss of consciousness. In extreme

cases, death can result. The chemical has been linked to dozens of accidental

deaths in the USA, Colombia, Benin, India, Malaysia, Sudan, and the Philippines.

 

Endosulfan poisonings reveal the many and extreme risks farmworkers face as they

handle acutely toxic pesticides, and demonstrate that safe use cannot be

guaranteed in developing countries. In February 2003, two South African boys

aged 7 and 10 years old collapsed and died after handling goats that had been

treated with endosulfan, which had been sold as a veterinary vaccine, despite

the fact that it is an insecticide intended for use on crops. A few years ago in

Benin, endosulfan caused 37 deaths and another 36 extremely serious poisonings

in one growing season among small farmers who did not have access to protective

clothing when spraying, grew other food crops near their cotton fields, and also

re-used pesticide containers.

 

In August of 2002 the state of Kerala, India banned endosulfan, widely used on

cashews, after a government health study found the pesticide responsible for

unusually high cases of disease and deformity. The report documented

significantly higher prevalence of learning disabilities, serious neurological

problems, and congenital and reproductive abnormalities throughout the region.

 

Environmental impact from endosulfan is also a concern. Contamination from the

pesticide has caused mass fish deaths in India, Benin, Sudan, Germany,

Australia, and the USA. In 1995, an estimated 240,000 fish were killed in

Alabama due to endosulfan runoff from cotton fields.

 

Cambodia is the tenth country to ban endosulfan, joining Belize, Singapore,

Tonga, Syria, Germany, UK, Sweden, Netherlands, and Colombia. The Brazilian

state of Rondonia, like the Indian state of Kerala, has banned the chemical.

Twenty-one other countries have placed " severe " controls on endosulfan (see the

PAN Pesticides Database at http://www.pesticideinfo.org/).

 

US EPA is currently completing re-registration of endosulfan for use on dozens

of crops in the U.S. In the process of re-registration, EPA has banned

endosulfan use on a number of crops and is requiring mitigation measures to

protect farmworkers. However, the re-registration did not assess new information

on endosulfan as an endocrine disruptor, nor did it review cumulative affects of

chemicals with " similar mechanisms of toxicity, " as required under the U.S. Food

Quality Protection Act (FQPA). U.S. crops with the highest endosulfan sales in

2001 include cotton, cantaloupe, tomatoes and potatoes. Ninety-four endosulfan

products are currently registered for use in the U.S.

 

The growing number of nations banning endosulfan raise the likelihood of the

chemical being added to the Prior Informed Consent (PIC) list of the Rotterdam

Convention, which can severely limit the market for a pesticide by requiring

prior notification to an importing country that the chemical has been banned in

other parts of the world. Any chemical banned in two countries in two separate

regions can be added to the PIC list.

 

As national bans of endosulfan gain momentum and the pesticide faces increasing

scrutiny through the PIC process, pressure is building for a global ban through

the Stockholm Convention on persistent organic pollutants. " The time has come

for endosulfan to be listed by both of these Conventions, " said Steve Trent of

the Environmental Justice Foundation.

 

Sources: End of a Killer Chemical, Press Release April 30, 2003, and End of the

Road For Endosulfan, The Environmental Justice Foundation,

http://www.ejfoundation.org/; U.S. EPA Re-registration Eligibility Decision for

Endosulfan November, 2002,

http://www.epa.gov/oppsrrd1/reregistration/endosulfan/; Endosulfan Deaths in

Benin, PANNA June 13, 2000; Indian Environmentalists Win Ban on Endosulfan,

August 2002, PANNA.

 

Contact: Environmental Justice Foundation, 5 St Peter's Street, London N1 8JD,

UK, phone (44-207) 359 0440; PANNA.

 

 

PANUPS is a weekly email news service providing resource guides and reporting on

pesticide issues that don't always get coverage by the mainstream media. It's

produced by Pesticide Action Network North America, a non-profit and

non-governmental organization working to advance sustainable alternatives to

pesticides worldwide.

 

You can join our efforts! We gladly accept donations for our work and all

contributions are tax deductible in the United States. Visit

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