The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has banned the use of endosulfan after years of encouragement from agencies such as the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and EarthJustice.
According to the NRDC web page, endosulfan was developed in the early 1950s as an insecticide used mainly used on cotton, cantaloupe, tomato, potato, and apple crops. Since then, research has found that it disrupts hormones and is toxic to the nervous system.
Research shows that endosulfan can cause headaches, seizures, vomiting, and in unborn infants, it can cause male reproductive harm, birth defects, and possibly autism. Because children are still developing and growing, pesticides such as endosulfan can harm their development and cause permanent damage to their nervous system.
Endosulfan can be inhaled or consumed through contaminated water. Some vegetables and fruit retain the endosulfan even after being washed and cooked. It breaks down slowly and can travel thousands of miles. This stuff is so bad that it has been found in the body fat of animals in the Arctic. The Arctic? But, there aren’t any farms anywhere near the Arctic! I know, that is part of the problem.
In a press release, the EPA said, “The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking action to end all uses of the insecticide endosulfan in the United States. Endosulfan, which is used on vegetables, fruits, and cotton, can pose unacceptable neurological and reproductive risks to farm workers and wildlife and can persist in the environment.”
Endosulfan has already been banned in 60 countries around the world. I’m not sure why it took the EPA so long to ban it, but the NRDC both petitioned and filed a lawsuit to ban endosulfan in 2008. The EPA actually started imposing restrictions on the use of endosulfan back in 2002, but the companies that make it continued to fight for its use.