Ban Lindane NOW! Campaign partners celebrate EPA decision

by Kristin S. Schafer

EPA’s recent withdrawal of lindane in U.S. agriculture is cause for sweet celebration. Though we still have some work to do, EPA’s decision takes out roughly 99% of the uses of this old chemical in the U.S., and is an important step toward protecting public health. The Ban Lindane NOW! Campaign, with partners from Mexico City to Anchorage, warmly welcomes EPA’s long overdue decision, and is now calling on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to withdraw the remaining uses of lindane in shampoos and lotions, which represent particular risks to children.

“The phaseout of lindane’s agricultural use is long overdue, and is especially important to protecting indigenous peoples in the Arctic,” says Pamela Miller, Director of the Alaska Community Action on Toxics, an organization that works closely with indigenous communities. “We’re pleased the U.S. is finally joining the rest of the international community that has already stopped using this harmful pesticide.”

Fifty-two countries have already banned all uses of lindane, and in early November the chemical will move one step closer to being listed for a global ban under the Stockholm Convention (POPs treaty). EPA itself targeted lindane for phaseout back in 1977, but until this August the U.S. used up to 230,000 pounds of lindane annually in seed treatment products, mostly on corn and wheat. Part of a family of chemicals called organochlorines—most of which have already been banned in the U.S.—lindane has been on PAN International’s target list for phaseout since the early 1980s.

Amazingly, this neurotoxic pesticide that has been linked to brain tumors, cancer and hormone disruption is still allowed in the U.S. for treatment of lice and scabies in pharmaceutical products. Lindane shampoos and lotions can cause seizures, birth defects, brain damage and developmental disabilities for children. Scabies treatments using lindane lotions and creams have been withdrawn in many countries because of reports of aplastic anemia and potential neurotoxicity. “Lindane is no longer allowed on pets or seeds, why are we still allowing use on kids?” asks Tracey Easthope, Director of the Ecology Center in Michigan.

Michigan is one of several states looking to emulate California’s 2002 decision to ban the pharmaceutical uses of lindane in shampoos and lotions. An informal survey of Californian health professionals indicates that the ban has not resulted in outbreaks of lice or scabies, and pediatricians are not having any trouble finding alternative treatments. Many effective alternatives to lindane exist and are used worldwide. These include physical methods for lice removal such as wet-combing, individual nit/louse removal, and suffocating methods. Physical methods have no toxic effects; no topical irritations to scalp, no systemic absorption, and can simultaneously detect and treat without any danger to the environment.

Efforts to ban lindane’s pharmaceutical use at the state level have generated aggressive industry opposition. In New York, industry lobbyists pressed hard for a delay when a bill was near passing, then arranged for a hearing where they presented legislators with huge visuals of children affected by scabies. In Illinois, industry lobbyists raised fears among health professionals of a “slippery slope” of second guessing FDA’s rulings, a strategy that temporarily derailed legislative efforts there.

In Michigan, where the Ecology Center is working closely with a coalition of health professionals and children’s health advocates, industry actually filed suit against the non-profit for distributing “false and misleading” statements about their products. Among the specific statements cited in the Michigan lawsuit brought by Morton Grove Pharmaceuticals—a major U.S. distributor of lindane products—all are drawn from scientific literature and one, ironically, is cited on Morton Grove’s own website. The suit is pending, and the Ecology Center is committed to moving forward with their important coalition work. (see box on right)

Pressing FDA to act

In addition to supporting this important state-level work, PANNA is now working with partner groups and mobilizing PAN activists to press FDA to withdraw the remaining lindane uses. In August, hundreds of messages were sent to Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach, Acting Commissioner of FDA, demanding withdrawal of the remaining uses of lindane.

“All uses of this chemical are already being phased out in Mexico,” says Fernando Bejarano, Director of Red de Acción en Plaguicidas y sus Alternativas en México (PAN Mexico). “We’re pleased to see that the U.S. is following Mexico’s lead in phasing out lindane in agriculture, and we hope the government will take the next step and ban use in shampoos and lotions as well.”

It was Mexico that proposed the addition of lindane under the POPs treaty, after deciding in fall 2004 to ban all uses of the chemical at home. Mexico’s lindane phaseout was prompted by its participation in a tri-national process to develop a North American Regional Action Plan (NARAP). PANNA and our partners have been actively engaged in development of the NARAP, bringing voices of affected communities into the discussion, providing in-depth technical comments and serving a “lindane lunch” to government officials highlighting lindane contamination in common and Arctic traditional foods. Pressure from the Ban Lindane NOW! coalition spurred government officials

in Mexico, the U.S. and Canada to move more quickly and go further toward lindane’s elimination in North America.
Back in 2001 when the California ban was in the works and Europe was taking action to phase out lindane, we published an article titled Going Going Gone? Lindane Moves Closer To Elimination. Five years later this optimistic prediction is within reach, and the strong partnerships that have been built in the process will be crucial to getting the job done.

Kristin S. Schafer heads PAN’s Organochlorines Campaign, and previously coordinated the persistent organic pollutants campaign under the Stockholm Convention.