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Environment

Endosulfan Banned Worldwide

Persistent Pollutants: Certain uses of pesticide will continue under exemptions

by Cheryl Hogue
April 29, 2011

The pesticide endosulfan will be banned in 2012 except for certain exempted uses, under an agreement struck April 29 by more than 170 countries. Endosulfan can cause neurological and reproductive problems in farmworkers and wildlife and can persist in the environment.

Countries made the deal under the Stockholm Convention, an international treaty for controlling persistent organic pollutants, after negotiating in Geneva April 25-29.

Currently, 80 countries have banned endosulfan or announced that they would phase out use of the chemical, according to Pesticide Action Network, a group that lobbies for alternatives to hazardous pesticides.

The U.S. is one of those countries, because the Environmental Protection Agency announced last year that domestic use of endosulfan would end by 2016. However, the U.S. is not a partner of the Stockholm Convention, though it participated in the negotiations in Geneva as an observer.

Under the new agreement, endosulfan may be used on certain combinations of crops and pests for six years. For example, endosulfan may continue to be used on cotton to control bollworms and on corn to control aphids and borers.

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