HIL workers at Kerala Endosulfan plant seek probe into NIOH study

Over 300 workers from the Hindustan Insecticides Limited plant manufacturing Endosulfan near Kochi at Kerala organised a rally today to oppose the unscientific approach adopted by environmental NGOs to seek ban on Endosulfan. HIL workers emphasized an investigation into the flaws observed in the study which was released by the National Institute of Occupational Health (NIOH).

The workers demanded that their own experience and the farmers’ experience be taken into consideration as they work with the pesticide Endosulfan. Endosulfan was manufactured and used for more than 50 years across the world and continues to be in use in many countries without any ill effects to humans or environment. The fact that the workers who are handling endosulfan since so many years have not suffered from any ill effects is enough evidence that alleged health effects in Kerala are not caused by endosulfan.

There are over 6000 workers employed in the manufacturing of Endosulfan in various plants of India and 400 of these workers are employed in the HIL plant.

A rally was also organised by over 3000 people including workers at endosulfan plant of Excel Crop Care Bhavnagar and their family members demanding probe into NIOH report. Workers conveyed "we, our family members and our generations are healthy" implying that allegations on endosulfan are scientifically untrue but political in nature.

Endosulfan likely to be re-introduced in some countries where it is currently banned

As some “alternatives” to Endosulfan have caused Colony Collapse Disorder in honeybees, re-introduction of Endosulfan is being considered. Endosulfan has relatively low toxicity to many species of beneficial insects, mites and spiders (that is, ones which prey upon or parasites and damaging insect pests). More importantly, it is soft to honeybees.

Even in Europe where Endosulfan is currently banned, some of the member states had to authorize placing of Endosulfan on market under unavoidable circumstances for a controlled use.

Fungus isolated from Endosulfan applied soil degrades dieldrin, heptachlor, heptachlor epoxide, endosulfan, endosulfan sulfate, DDT, and DDE

Scientists from Japan have isolated fungus Mucor racemosus strain DDF from a soil to which endosulfan had been annually applied for more than 10 years. Strain DDF degraded not only dieldrin but also heptachlor, heptachlor epoxide, endosulfan, endosulfan sulfate, DDT, and DDE. These results suggest that strain DDF could be a candidate for the bioremediation of sites contaminated with various persistent organochlorine pesticides including POPs.

Source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20704234

Environ Sci Technol. 2010 Aug 15;44(16):6343-6349.

EFFECT OF ENDOSULFAN ON SOIL RESPIRATION

A peer reviewed article is published in Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment. 138:181-188. Publication Date: June 16, 2010

A field study was initiated at the United States Department of Agriculture, Subtropical Horticulture Research Station in Miami, FL to examine the effects of endosulfan on soil respiration. Treatments were repeated four times and the study continued over three growing seasons. Respiration from bare soil was similar to that from fields planted to snap bean implying soil microbes were the dominant source of CO2 compared to root respiration.

Endosulfan applications resulted in inconsistent increases in soil respiration. Increases were short-lived. By the end of the study soil respiration was higher in endosulfan treated than untreated plots. Endosulfan had a short-lived inhibitory effect on soil fungi, but bacteria increased in number in response to endosulfan applications.

It is concluded that some bacterial species decomposed the endosulfan and rapidly multiplied causing the increase bacterial colony count. In general there were no adverse effects of endosulfan on soil respiration.

SOURCE: http://www.ars.usda.gov/research/publications/Publications.htm?seq_no_115=241192

Endosulfan EPA Proposal _ Grower's Views

EPA’s proposed actions to ban Endosulfan could have a significant effect on Arizona vegetable and melon growers because of the cost-effective insect control benefits provided by the timely use of endosulfan. Endosulfan is very important in IPM programs because of its broad spectrum, quick knockdown contact activity against the adult life stage of several insect species including whiteflies, aphids, thrips, flea beetles, bagrada bugs, etc.

Although many new alternatives have been claimed to become available over the past several years, most of these active ingredients have very narrow activity against specific insect species and their life stages.

"Endosulfan will be particularly missed in the desert on fall melons, where to date endosulfan combinations have provided the adult whitefly control necessary to reduce cucurbit yellow stunting disorder virus infection.
Contact Palumbo: (928) 782-3836 or jpalumbo@ag.arizona.edu "

http://westernfarmpress.com/vegetables/arizona-vegetable-ipm-update-0618/

Endosulfan Pesticides US EPA

Scott Rawlins, MANA director of global governmental and industry relations said that key uses of Endosulfan are still eligible for re-registration. "However, given the fact that the endosulfan market is quite small and the cost of developing and submitting additional data high, we have decided to voluntarily negotiate an agreement with EPA that provides growers with an adequate time frame to find alternatives for the damaging insect pests currently controlled by endosulfan," Rawlins said.

http://www.farmchemicalsinternational.com/news/cropprotection/?storyid=2599

Why Endosulfan is soft to bees and beneficial insects?

Many species of beneficial insects and bees can detoxify Endosulfan due to Glutathione-S-Transferase (GST) system. This system conjugates the molecule of Endosulfan to glutathione and hence it is not available for binding with the target GABA receptors. Luckily, Glutathione-S-Transferase system has either low or no activity in target pests. Thus, use of Endosulfan presents advantage of being effective to target pest, but at the same time, it is soft to bees and beneficial insects.

Minister’s Journey From Cabinet to Endosulfan

According to a report in the newspaper “The Hindu”, the former Karnataka Minister for Rural Development Ms. Shobha Karandlaje was forced to resign from the Karnataka Cabinet. http://beta.thehindu.com/news/national/article76803.ece

She has taken up a new role as a leader of a campaign for a nationwide ban on endosulfan. According to the newspaper, Ms. Shobha Karandlaje said that people in the Puttur and Belthangdi taluks were suffering from cancer, diseases affecting the central nervous system, skin diseases, respiratory disorders, eye problems and impotency, all of which could be linked to the use of the pesticide.

Endosulfan is neither mutagenic nor carcinogenic. In fact there is an evidence of non-carcinogenicity for humans and hence Endosulfan is classified under Class-E by US Environment Protection Agency (US EPA).

Endosulfan is being used in many countries including Australia, India and USA. This is because it is soft to bees and beneficial insects and it is important in integrated pest management. It is also effective in resistance management. Moreover, Endosulfan is an off-patent generic molecule available to farmer at an affordable price.

Evaluation of Suggestions

Endosulfan is an off-patent, generic pesticide available to farmers at an affordable price. Since the product is off-patent, there cannot be any monopoly, as a result of which it is available to farmers at a low price.

Endosulfan is a molecule effective on target pests and at the same time, it is soft to non-target beneficial insects and bees. It is also useful in pesticide resistance management and very useful in IPM programmes. This has made Endosulfan very popular among farmers. Those who have used it in an “appropriate manner” are benefited.

No other molecule exhibits all advantages of Endosulfan, considering effectiveness and economic feasibility.

If Endosulfan is not available, farmers will have to use more than one products, and that too in larger proportion to achieve an equivalent effectiveness. Moreover, since the other products will have to be used in a comparatively much larger proportion, it will in fact add to environmental load.

The activists who propose to ban Endosulfan have not evaluated effectiveness and economic feasibility of alternatives. They simply say that there are alternatives to Endosulfan, but they have not even evaluated them.

Activists also suggest that we can do without any pesticide. This is not feasible at the scale required to be handled. If this was possible, farmers would not have used pesticides as it only adds to cost. Needless to say, what number of people are to be provided with adequate food?

Activists are benefited by giving such suggestions. There are companies/organizations which provide funds for such activities. All done at the cost of farmers and those who struggle for food.

ENDOSULFAN ON INDIA TV NEWS CHANNEL

IndiaTV news channel is broadcasting rumours that Endosulfan causes cancer.

Endosulfan is neither mutagenic nor carcinogenic. In fact there is an evidence of non-carcinogenicity for humans and hence Endosulfan is classified under Class-E by US Environment Protection Agency (US EPA).

Given below are reviews about IndiaTV channel. Click on the links to read full reviews.

"this channel is a nonsense, sensationalizing, fake, BAAKWAS, rubbish, anti Indian, unreal, silly newschannel"

http://www.mouthshut.com/review/India_TV-170667-1.html

"They don't have sense of responsible news"

http://www.mouthshut.com/review/India_TV-151190-1.html

"Most Pathetic, Bogus & Unreal news channel"

http://www.mouthshut.com/review/India_TV-149332-1.html

"One of the worst, unreliable and frustrating tv"

http://www.mouthshut.com/review/India_TV-149163-1.html

"Ridiculous news channel"

http://www.mouthshut.com/review/India_TV-149005-1.html

Endosulfan_Ongoing Controversy

National Institute of Occupational Health (NIOH), an organisation under ICMR carried out study and submitted a report titled “Final Report of the Investigation of Unusual Illnesses Allegedly Produced by Endosulfan Exposure in Padre Village of Kasargod District (N. Kerala)” to National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). NIOH report mentions weaknesses of all earlier reports.

However, NIOH report itself is also erroneous as given below.

Flaws in NIOH Report include following:

• Limit of quantification is not determined.
• Values fall much below even the detection limit.
• Linearity and range thereof i.e., calibration curve is not established.
• No data related to recovery of analyte.
• No direct confirmation of results of analysis.
• Replicate sample determination and precision not given.
• Very high standard deviation implies that data is highly skewed and most of the values fall below detection limit.

NIOH Report is available at following link:

http://chm.pops.int/Portals/0/docs/Responses_on_Annex_E_information_for_endosulfan/PANandIPEN_090108_Endosulfan%20Kerala%20NIOH%202003.pdf

An evaluation of earlier reports (also published in NIOH report) is given below:

Dr. Mohana Kumar Y S, a physician practicing in the area since 1982, used to keep record of the cases coming to his clinic for treatment. His record as published in Down to Earth Magazine (28th February 2001) is as follows:

Given below is a List of confirmed cases of various diseases as reported by Dr. Y. S. Mohankumar.

Disease & No. of Cases
Cancer 49
Mental retardation 23
Congenital anomalies 9
Psychiatric cases 43
Epilepsy 23
Suicide 9
Total* 156
Total (by January 26)** 197
NOTE: * - cases counted by January 5, 2001 **- break-up not available

In report by Mohankumar, only the number of persons suffering from diseases such as congenital malformations, cancers, psychiatric illnesses etc. without referring to the denominator (i.e. out of how many) was reported. These diseases also occur with varying frequency in general population. Hence their occurrence does not indicate exposure to unusual causative factor unless, the excessive incidence/prevalence compared to other similar population is proved. Therefore to establish the higher prevalence/incidence of any disease one must include control (reference) population in the study and then compare prevalence/incidence of various diseases.

Mohan Kumar wrote a letter to Centre For Science and Environment (CSE), which is a Delhi based NGO, about high incidences of cancer deaths and deformities in the village.

CSE found up to 8.95 ppm Endosulfan II in filtered water sample from Kasargod. However, solubility of Endosulfan II in water at room temperature is only 0.33 ppm

http://pmep.cce.cornell.edu/profiles/insect-mite/ddt famphur/endosulfan/insect-prof-endosulfan.html

Thus CSE found 27.12 times higher amount of Endosulfan compared to its actual solubility in water.

CSE scientists also analysed biological and environmental samples for Endosulfan residues. Very high levels of Endosulfan were reported in samples of human blood, human milk, vegetables, spices, cow’s milk, animal tissues, cashew, cashew leaves and soil. It is not possible to sustain with so much of Endosulfan in blood and hence it shows that there is an obvious error in analysis.

Quantitative estimation of Endosulfan levels in biological and environmental samples was done at CSE by gas chromatography equipped with the ECD detector. This technique although very sophisticated for quantitative estimation, cannot identify an unknown substance, which needs to be confirmed by using standard tests. No confirmatory test was conducted by investigators and hence it cannot be said what was actually analyzed in the name of Endosulfan.

Fredrick Institute of Plant Protection and Toxicology (FIPPAT) at the request of PCK carried out evaluation of Endosulfan residues in 106 samples of human blood, one cow milk sample, one fish sample, 30 water samples, 29 soil samples and 28 cashew leave samples collected from 18.3.2001 to 02.05.2001 from Padre village. Their results show that there are no residues of Endosulfan in any of the blood samples, cow milk and water samples. However, some residue of Endosulfan was detected in soil and leaf samples. The FIPPAT study, though started one month later than CSE, shows just the opposite results, i.e. complete absence of endosulfan residues in blood, cow milk and water samples. The study reported Endosulfan residues in the range of 0.001 to 0.012 ppm in soil samples and 0.04 to 2.863 ppm in cashew leave samples. FIPPAT did not include the confirmatory tests of the compound.

ಈ ವಿಷಯ ನಿಮಗೆ ಗೊತ್ತೆ?

ಎಂಡೊಸಲಫಾನನಿಂದ ಅರ್ಬುದ ರೋಗ (ಕ್ಯಾನ್ಸರ್) ಉಂಟಾಗುವ ಸಂಭವ ಇಲ್ಲ. ಇದು ಕೇವಲ ಕಟ್ಟುಕಥೆ. ಅಮೆರಿಕದ ಪರಿಸರ ಸಂರಕ್ಷಣ ಸಂಸ್ಥೆ (EPA) ಯ ಪ್ರಕಾರ ಎಂಡೊಸಲಫಾನನಿಂದ ಅರ್ಬುದ ರೋಗ (ಕ್ಯಾನ್ಸರ್) ಬರುವುದಿಲ್ಲ. ಧೀರ್ಘವಾದ ವೈಜ್ಞಾನಿಕ ವಿಶ್ಲೇಷಣೆಯ ನಂತರ EPA ಈ ತೀರ್ಮಾನಕ್ಕೆ ಬಂದಿದೆ.

Endosulfan is soft to bees and beneficial insects

Kim Flottum who is a bee keeper and Editor of Bee Culture magazine says that 2009 has the worst honey crop on record. “If you like honey, you should buy it now...and buy a lot." Bee colonies are collapsing, a phenomenon known as “colony collapse disorder”.

Many crops need honey bees for pollination. No honey bees, no pollination.

Pesticides that are highly toxic to bees include bifenthrin, carbaryl, chlorpyrifos, diazinon cypermethrin, dimethoate, imidacloprid, malathion, methoxychlor, methyl parathion, oxydematon-methyl, permethrin, pyrethrins, resmethrin, rotenone, sabadilla etc.

Endosulfan is soft to bees and beneficial insects. http://www.apvma.gov.au/products/review/docs/endosulfan_ir_overview.pdf
“endosulfan has relatively low toxicity to many species of beneficial insects, mites and spiders (that is, ones which prey upon or parasitise damaging insect pests). Other chemicals, necessarily substituted for endosulfan, would kill beneficial insects leading to population explosions of damaging pests which in turn would require more frequent sprays of harsher chemicals than if endosulfan had been used in the first place.”

Involuntary Exposure to TOBACCO and CANCER

There are at least 250 chemicals in secondhand tobacco smoke, which are known to be toxic or carcinogenic. This results in cancer risk to those who do not directly consume tobacco but are exposed involuntarily due to others.

Eleven compounds in tobacco smoke have been identified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer as Group 1 (known human carcinogen) carcinogens.

Cancer is prevalent in Kerala. Smoking, chewing tobacco and drinking alcoholic beverages are the major risk factors for cancer. The adults in coastal Kerala have been found to have a habit pattern of very high levels of tobacco and alcohol use.

Endosulfan is neither mutagenic nor carcinogenic. In fact there is an evidence of non-carcinogenicity for humans and hence Endosulfan is classified under Class-E by US Environment Protection Agency (US EPA). http://www.epa.gov/espp/litstatus/effects/redleg-frog/endosulfan/appendix-m.pdf

Centre for Science & Environment (CSE) published rumors about Endosulfan “The plight of Padre villagers with cases of cerebral palsy, mental retardation, cancer and other diseases captured the public imagination”. When pesticide industry brought to the notice of Sunita Narain of CSE, regarding the truth that Endosulfan is not carcinogenic, she had a wilful disregard for the facts. Well, it is clear that such NGOs do not contribute anything productive to the society but they mislead people.
http://www.cseindia.org/html/endosulfan/endosulfan_page2.htm

Symptoms of iodine deficiency wrongfully linked with Endosulfan

Symptoms of iodine deficiency include thyroid enlargement, goiter, nodules within goiter, pregnency related problems such as miscarriages, stillbirth, preterm delivery and congenital abnormalities in babies. Children of mothers with severe iodine deficiency during pregnency can have mental retardation, problems with growth, hearing and speech, cretinism and low intelligence.
These effects are NOT caused by Endosulfan, but it is due to iodine deficiency.

Read more on the website of American Thyroid Association. http://www.thyroid.org/patients/patient_brochures/iodine_deficiency.html#symptoms