Highly Toxic Insecticide Is Banned by International Group

Endosulfan — an insecticide that has been linked to birth defects, cancer, and retardation — has been banned by the 127 governments that belong to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants. The organochlorine insectcide has been widely sprayed on cotton, coffee, tea, cashews and other crops, and studies have shown a high incidence of developmental and reproductive damage in rural communities where Endosulfan has been heavily used. Endosulfan is the 22nd chemical to be placed on the United Nations’ list of persistent organic pollutants to be eliminated worldwide. The ban, approved at a meeting in Geneva this week, will take effect next year, although certain limited uses may be permitted until a final phase-out in 2017. Eighty nations have already banned the insecticide. The impacts of Endosulfan have been particularly severe in the Indian state of Kerala, where extensive use on cashew plantations has left thousands of people, many of them children, suffering from a host of physical and developmental illnesses.