Endosulfan

Endosulfan is an antiquated insecticide that communities around the world are fighting to eliminate. Already banned in the European Union, this highly toxic and persistent pesticide continues to threaten the health and wellbeing of children, farmworkers, and people living in rural areas in U.S., India, China, and many other countries.

Endosulfan is a PAN Bad Actor chemical. It is highly acutely toxic, affecting primarily the nervous system. Symptoms of poisoning include headaches, nausea and vomiting, seizures, and in extreme cases unconsciousness and even death. Endosulfan is also a suspected endocrine disruptor, and low dose exposure while in the womb has been linked to autism, male reproductive harm, and birth defects.

Farmworkers are exposed to endosulfan on job, and air monitoring studies show that people living, working, and going to school near fields where it is used can be exposed by breathing contaminated air. EPA data show that all of us are routinely exposed to small amounts of endosulfan in the food we eat, but young children receive the largest doses. Endosulfan has even been detected in breast milk.

Its use in the U.S. has declined as newer and more effective alternative pest control methods have become available, and in 2000, it was removed from home and garden pest control products. In certain regions, however, growers of apples, cotton, potatoes and tomatoes continue to rely on this dangerous chemical.

Recent Calculations by the U.S. EPA Reveal High Risks

In November, U.S. EPA released calculations that show that endosulfan cannot be used safely in the vast majority of scenarios for which it is currently approved. For example, the agency calculates that even with best available technology and personal protective equipment, farmers applying endosulfan are exposed to unacceptably high levels.

Endosulfan and its main breakdown product are also persistent environmental contaminants. Waterways near application sites are threatened—for example, the EPA has estimated that after a typical endosulfan application to tomatoes, levels downstream can be up to 28 times higher that the level that is fatal to the average fresh water fish. And once released into the environment, these residues can take years to degrade while being transported far from the application site. Like other persistent organic pollutants, endosulfan makes its way to the Artic, where it concentrates in the fat of animals—including Indigenous peoples of the Artic. A growing body of evidence indicates that endosulfan biomagnifies in some food chains.

More about endosulfan

• Health effects of endsosulfan
• U.S. EPA's latest endosulfan risk assessments
• PANNA study finding endosulfan drift in near a Florida elementary school
• The global struggle against endosulfan