Why in news?
- The representatives of the victims of endosulfan poisoning in Kasaragod district of Kerala called off sit-in in front of the state Secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram.
What is endosulfan?
- Endosulfan is an organochlorine insecticide and acaricide used to control a broad range of insect and arthropod pests on a wide variety of crops in many agrosystems.
- Its trade name is Thiodan.
- Used for control of pests in crops like cotton, cashew, fruits, tea, paddy, tobacco etc.
- The Supreme Court in India banned the manufacture, sale, use, and export of endosulfan throughout the country in 2015.
- Endosulfan is listed under both Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent and the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (PoPs).
- Its effects:
- Endosulfan is readily absorbed by humans via the stomach, lungs and through the skin.
- It can cause acute and chronic toxicity.
- There is more susceptibility of females than males to the lethal effects of endosulfan.
- Central nervous system is the main target in endosulfan toxicity.
- Endosulfan is a neurotoxin, haematoxin, genotoxin and nephrotoxin.
- It has potential carcinogenic effects.
- It has been linked to congenital physical disorders, mental disabilities and deaths in farm workers and communities across the globe.
