► A United Nations-backed coalition has voted to phase out the controversial pesticide endosulfan. The ban was agreed to in Geneva last week at a gathering of the Stockholm Convention, a treaty regulating persistent organic pollutants. Endosulfan is already banned or is being phased out in more than 80 countries, and environmental groups have long pushed for strict global standards on the pesticide, which is a known endocrine disruptor.
Read the entire Greenwire article- U.N. panel agrees to phase out endosulfan
►Endosulfan, one of the most toxic chemicals in use today, has now been banned. In a decision taken in Geneva last week, under the legally binding Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, the pesticide will not be used, manufactured, or traded any longer. India, along with Uganda and China, has exemptions to continue its use for possibly another 11 years. India produces more than 80 percent of the 12,000 tonnes manufactured globally, consuming over half of it on cotton, cashew, tea, fruits, horticulture, etc. The ban has also created in some quarters unfounded fears of crop loss and a higher cost for food, when the issue should be safer alternatives and health.
Read the full article from Tehelka online: Kill the Slow Poison Now
►Press release 29 April, 2011: Killer Pesticide Endosulfan to be Phased out Globally
Gathered in Geneva for the Fifth Conference of the Parties this week, the nations of the world agreed to add endosulfan, an antiquated persistent insecticide, to the Stockholm Convention’s list of banned substances. Environmental health and justice organizations from around the world who have been working towards a ban welcomed the decision.
►NGOs Host Endosulfan-free Café for Stockholm Convention Delegates: Health and community leaders from across the globe will serve organic coffee, cashews and chocolate — free of the pesticide endosulfan — to government officials and other delegates gathered for the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants 5th Conference of the Parties.
►Pesticide Action Network International has compiled a document with Quick Facts and Quotes about Endosulfan
►Alaska Community Action on Toxics has released a new fact sheet: Endosulfan in the Arctic April 2011
►IPEN Participating Organization Alaska Community Action on Toxics (ACAT) has produced a new reference that highlights countries that have banned or are phasing out the toxic pesticide endosulfan, as well as those that have not traditionally used it and others that continue to do so. See the map: World Endosulfan map
►The Department of Community Medicine at the Government Medical College has carried out an epidemiological study of health status of population at Kasaragode District, Kerala, India: Department of Community Medicine report of the community-based study on endosulfan
►The Department of Health and Family Welfare, Government of Kerala, India, has completed a report on the effects of endosulfan and the progress of rehabilitation activities: Endosulfan, the Kerala Story