Phasing in Alternatives to Endosulfan Pesticides worth more than US$30 billion are intentionally released into the global environ- Reasons, experiences and links ment every year. Many of these are highly toxic and have immediate adverse effects on human health and wildlife or contaminate local food, water, soil and air. Others have chronic effects, including cancers, reproduc- tive problems, birth defects, hormonal dis- ruption and damage to the immune system. Harm may result from direct exposure during handling, spray drift, washing contaminated work clothes, storing pesticides in the home, or indirectly via pesticide dumps and per- sistence in the environment. One of these highly problematic pesticides is the insec- ticide endosulfan. Joint Paper of the PAN International working group Alternatives to Synthetic Pesticides Prepared by Susan Haffmans, PAN Germany, in cooperation with: Fernando Bejarano, RAPAM (Mexico), S. Davo Vodouhe, OBEPAB (Benin) Meriel Watts, PANAP (New Zealand), Carina Weber, PAN Germany Stephanie Williamson, PAN UK PAN Germany for PAN International, Hamburg, October 2008 Phasing in Alternatives to Endosulfan Phasing out Endosulfan Residues of endosulfan have been found in indoor Phasing in Alternatives air, rain, in all kind of water resources and in sediment, soil, tree bark, aquatic plants, fish, crocodile eggs and Endosulfan causes harm all over the world. It is very other living things. Residues have also been found in dangerous for humans and for the environment. It is food around the world, in dairy foods, meat, chicken, harmful in contact with skin, very toxic by inhalation vegetable oil, peanuts, seeds, fruit, honey, rice and many and if swallowed1. In March 2007, the Chemical Review different vegetables. As a hormone disruptor, endosulfan Committee of the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior threatens reproductive capacity. Although endosulfan Informed Consent Procedure (PIC Convention) recom- is not listed in the cancer listings of the US Environ- mended the inclusion of endosulfan in its Annex III. An- mental Protection Agency, EU or International Agency nex III is the list of chemicals that have been banned or for Research on Cancer, studies have shown that en- severely restricted for health or environmental reasons dosulfan can increase the risk of breast cancer3,4,5,6. by Parties to the Convention. In July 2007 the Council In some communities it has left a legacy of deformity of the European Union (EU) made the decision to pro- and malfunction. Many cases of poisoning, including pose endosulfan for listing in the Stockholm Convention fatalities, have been reported from Benin, Colombia, on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs Convention) Costa Rica, Cuba, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Malay- for global elimination. Pesticide Action Network (PAN) sia, Philippines, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Turkey promotes the elimination of harmful pesticides and the and the USA. Endosulfan is one of the main causes of generation, innovation and promotion of ecological al- acute poisoning in Central America, in southern India ternatives to pesticides. PAN supports the inclusion of and other areas7. endosulfan in the PIC and POPs Conventions2. This leaflet provides information about existing alternatives Crops on which endosulfan is applied to endosulfan use. Endosulfan is used in banana, berry fruit, cabbage Endosulfan – negative impacts on and other crucifers, cassava, citrus, coffee, corn, cotton health, wildlife and environment and other fibre crops, cowpea, eggplant, forage crops, forest trees, garlic, lettuce, mango, mungbean, onion, Endosulfan is an organochlorine insecticide. It is used ornamentals, peanut, pepper, pigeon pea, oil crops, to control a wide range of sucking and chewing ornamentals, potato, rice, sesame, sorghum, soy- insects, including aphids, thrips, beetles, bean, squash and other cucurbits, string foliar feeding caterpillars, mites, bo- bean, sweet potato, tea, tomato, and rers, cutworms, bollworms, bugs, wheat production. whiteflies, leafhoppers and tse- In some African countries tse flies and other inverteb- endosulfan is widely used, es- rates such as snails in rice pecially in cotton cultivation. paddies and earthworms in Blood samples from cotton turf. It is applied on crops, farmers have shown detec- on farm animals and pets, table levels of endosulfan on sport fields and in other and the farmers are suffe- situations. It is widely con- ring from many symptoms of sidered to be a persistent acute endosulfan poisoning. organic pollutant (POP). It is Some of the worst cases of volatile and has the potential for poisoning were found in Benin, long-range atmospheric transport which included deaths of farmers and therefore contaminates envi- or their family members exposed to ronments far from where it is used. It endosulfan8. After almost 10 years of en- is stored in the fatty tissues of animals and vironmental damage, poisoning and deaths humans, accumulating up the food chain, including in the government of Benin announced in February 2008 mothers’ milk. that the chemical would be banned after the existing stocks are used up. 2 Phasing in Alternatives to Endosulfan Endosulfan Monograph Bad practice: countries where endosulfan is still in use The Intergovernmental Forum on Chemical Safety identified endosulfan as an acutely toxic pesticide that po- A complete list of countries where endosulfan is cur- ses significant health problems for developing countries rently in use does not exist. But according to PAN data and economies in transition. endosulfan is still in use in the following countries: Aus- However, this statement of tralia, Bangladesh, Brazil, Cameroon, Canada, China, concern is no longer limited to Ghana, Honduras, Iceland, Indonesia, India, Iran, Is- developing countries, nor just rael, Japan, Korea, Madagascar, Mexico, New Zealand, to acute effects, nor just to hu- Pakistan, Panama, Philippines, Russia, South Africa, mans. For more information: Tanzania, Thailand, Uganda and United States. PANAP (2008): Endosulfan Monograph by Dr. Meriel Watts. http://panap.net/up- loads/media/EndosulfanMo- nograph2008June.pdf Growing crops without endosulfan - experiences and case studies Growing crops without endosulfan is Bissau, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Kuwait, Latvia, Li- possible. thuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malta, Mauritania, Mali, the Netherlands, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Poland, Many countries around the world show that crops can Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sin- be grown without the use of endosulfan. Daily proof is gapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, St Lucia, Sri Lanka, provided by the following 55 countries where endosulfan Sweden, Syria, the United Arab Emirates and the United is banned or strongly restricted or has been withdrawn: Kingdom. Examples from Asia, Africa, Latin America and Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bulgaria, Bur- Europe of successful production without endosulfan give kina Faso, Cap-Vert, Cambodia, Chad, Colombia, Cote daily proof that practical alternatives to endosulfan exist d’Ivoire, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, and are technically and economically feasible. Finland, France, Gambia, Germany, Greece, Guinea Examples of no use of endosulfan around the world. Source: S. Haffmans/PAN Germany, 30.09.2008, derived from Image: BlankMap-World-v5.png, Date: 2008-09-04, Author: Chanheigeorge 3 Phasing in Alternatives to Endosulfan Growing crops without endosulfan - Growing crops without endosulfan - experiences from ASIA experiences from AFRICA India: The experience from India shows that gro- BENIN: Since 1996 a growing number of Benin wing organic cotton has not only a positive impact on the cotton farmers have proven that cotton can be grown environment and on people’s health but is also beneficial without endosulfan. Training in alternative pest manage- for the socio-economic situation of cotton farmers. While ment strategies, integrating indigenous techniques, and conventional cotton farmers use endosulfan to combat the use of plant extracts and trap crops enable the far- cotton bollworms and other pests, Indian organic farmers mers to successfully grow cotton without pesticides13. manage these with a non-chemical pest management There is now considerable experience in using a range system, based primarily on preventive measures. These of non-chemical strategies for pest management, inclu- include planting robust cotton varieties, maintaining a ding: encouraging natural predators; selection of resis- diverse crop rotation, intercropping with maize and pi- tant varieties; planting early maturing varieties which geon peas as trap crops and with flowering plants like reduce the risk of pest attacks; use of rotation and trap marigold and sunflowers to attract beneficial insects, and the use of ‘Trichocards’ containing eggs of the pa- rasitic wasp Trichogramma. Trichogramma parasitizes the eggs of the bollworm moth, one of the key pests of cotton. In addition, Indian farmers prepare and apply repellents and botanical pesticides from plants that grow locally9,10. Detailed research in 2003 and 2004 in India demonstrated that organic cotton farming can be far more profitable than conventional farming, with gross margins about 30-52% higher than in conventional pro- duction. Revenues from organic cotton sales were about 30% higher than from conventional sales11. Sri Lanka: Following the ban of endosulfan in 1998, the yields of 13 specific vegetable crops and rice, and the number of incidents of pesticide