Press release: Global treaty adds lindane to ban list, May 2009
Press release: Global chemical treaty tests new U.S. leadership, April 2009 (PDF)
Press release: Persistent Pesticide Targeted for Global Ban, April 2009
Letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Acting Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration Joshua Sharfstein, April 2009 (PDF)
Parents stories for lindane-free lice control,April 2009
Press release: Michigan legislators move to protect children from lindane, May 2008
In 2009, governments around the world added the persistent pesticide lindane to the list of chemicals targeted for global ban under the Stockholm Convention (POPs treaty). All agricultural uses of lindane will be phased out under the treaty, and any production of the neurotoxic pesticide is banned. Pharmaceutical uses for control of lice and scabies will (using existing stocks) are scheduled for full phase out by 2014.
Lindane has been banned in 52 countries, including most recently Chile and Mexico. Exposure to this organochlorine has been linked to seizures, developmental disabilities and hormone disruption. It is known to be particularly hazardous to children. The persistent chemical shows up more often than any other pesticide in the Arctic environment, contaminating traditional foods of indigenous communities in the region.
Despite lindane’s known dangers, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) continues to approve its use as an ingredient in shampoos and skin lotions marketed to control lice and scabies. California banned these pharmaceutical uses of lindane in 2001, and similar legislation is moving forward in Michigan. In August 2006, EPA withdrew lindane from all agricultural uses in the United States, and U.S. veterinary uses were canceled in the late 1990s.
Morton Grove Pharmaceuticals, the major distributor of lindane products in the U.S., continues to aggressively promote the use of lindane shampoos and lotions. The company has actively lobbied against restrictive legislation in Michigan and New York, and filed lawsuits against the Michigan Ecology Center and the National Pediculosis Association for distributing information about lindane's health effects. In late 2007, FDA issued a stern letter to Morton Grove, warning the company to stop its misleading advertising.
